To The Moon And Back
by HopefulPlace
Summary: The story of what could have happened: If Channary and Rikan hadn't died, if Levana had never been queen, Selene had never been burned alive, and Cinder had never become a cyborg to begin with. What would the relationship between Kai and Cinder be like? What would the world be like? Also can be found on WattPad. Formerly "An Alternate Life"
1. Prologue: The Only Thing That Mattered

The woman stood in the dimly lit room, towering over a smaller object of furniture.

Her face was nothing short of gorgeous. She had tanned skin, mesmerizing brown-gold eyes, and ruby-red lips that could make any man's heart melt. (And indeed they had, several times.)

But the child this beautiful woman stood over could have outshone the lovely queen, even being only a couple of weeks old herself. The infant lay in the crib, swathed in blankets emblazoned with the lunar crest. Her cheeks were tinged with shades of rose, and her tiny fingers fisted around the blanket that kept her warm and safe. Indeed, Princess Selene of Luna was a beauty indeed.

Queen Channary gazed down at her daughter with a touch of a feeling that took her a moment to identify as... Love? She didn't quite know. Love, to her, was an unnecessary, weak, utterly unwanted thing in her life. She had never loved and had never been loved, as far as she knew.

Except now there was this new child, and for the first time, she felt something that felt like love. Love, for this child, that for so many months she had resented and blamed for her unnecessary condition and pain. But now that Selene was born, Channary could not feel anything but affection for this child.

She was the only thing that mattered.

And yet, the queen realized that in her daughter's birth, she could lead the entire country, the entire planet, into a new age. Channary herself had never been betrothed or married; but what about Selene? There was an Earthern prince that Channary had heard of, crown prince Kaito of the Eastern Commonwealth. He was a mere two years older than Selene. If Selene was to marry him, it would ensure that Luna was in quite a powerful position to take over their neighboring planet.

But Channary snuck a peek at her newborn daughter again.

And in that moment, Channary's thoughts of invasion subsided. But just for a moment.


	2. Chapter 1: Duty To Your Country

Kai started at himself in the mirror and frowned almost instantly.

He supposed that he looked handsome (although he wasn't nearly as vain to really judge), but he didn't care. His hand moved toward his collar, only to remember that Tashmi Priya would have a fit if he ruined even one part of his outfit. Sighing, he relented and collapsed onto a nearby chair.

Running a hand through his hair, Kai struggled to recall the conversation he had shared with his father earlier in the week. They had discussed the economy of the Eastern Commonwealth, the state of the people, and of course, letumosis. Then, his father had brought up another matter.

"Kai," he had said slowly, "you know of the royal family of Luna, yes?"

"Of course, father." Kai had replied, puzzled. Who didn't know of the lunar royal family?

His father paused, and one of his hands crept up to run through his graying hair (a habit Kai picked up) before he spoke. "Then, Kai, you know of Queen Channary and her daughter, Princess Selene?"

"Yes, but what does this have to do with anything right now?" Kai felt his tone become slightly annoyed as he looked at his father. Emperor Rikan's face was pensive as he looked back at his son. Ever since losing his wife eleven years ago, the emperor had become increasingly more exhausted, it seemeed, retiring to his chambers every night with almost no energy left. It had taken a toll on Kai, just to see his father like that, but in spite of it, Rikan seemed to be fine.

"Kai, I am asking you all this because we have just received confirmation from the court of Luna of an invitation we sent the royal family months ago, for the queen and the crown princess to visit, and even possibly for one of them to stay for a few months."

Kai shot to his feet. "What?"

"Kai, I know this must come as a shock to you, but-"

"You invited them here? Here, into the Commonwealth?"

"Kai, sit down." The emperor's tone had taken on a stern tone. Kai obliged.

"Kai, we invited them because we need a stronger alliance between the Earthern Union and Luna. The Eastern Commonwealth is the biggest out of the other unions and territories, so it is the most fit to host a meeting of this sort. My cabinet and I are hoping to establish peace talks and negotiations with Queen Channary and hope that Earth can be more friendly with Luna."

Kai knit his eyebrows together, when something clicked in his brain. "The person staying with us for a longer period of time... It's Princess Selene, isn't it?"

Rikan said nothing, but that was all the confirmation Kai needed.

"Is this about the marriage alliance?" Kai spoke again, although he already knew the answer.

When he had been younger, he had hid in the corner of one of the corridors of the palace in the hopes of obtaining some pieces of information from his father and his cabinet as they met and discussed in the room next to Kai's hiding place. One time, he had heard something that made his blood run cold.

"What about the marriage alliance we proposed last meeting, Your Majesty?"

Kai recognized the voice of Konn Torin, his father's advisor and Kai's (unofficial) caretaker. He crept closer. Marriage alliance? Was his father planning to remarry?

Kai heard a sigh. His father's sigh, followed by his voice. "I'm not sure. After all, Kai is so young, and to force him into marrying someone he probably doesn't even know is something I can't imagine at the moment."

"But Your Majesty," another member of the cabinet. "We can foresee no other way to secure an alliance between the Earthern Union and Luna. We do not mean that the young prince must marry now, he's too young, but perhaps in the future? ..."

Kai stumbled back from the room. Arranged marriage? Luna? It was too much for him to comprehend at once.

Kai reflected on the memory. Research and more eavesdropping made him realize that if he was truly to enter a marriage alliance with someone of the lunar court, it would be crown Princess Selene, who was two years his junior.

And the fact that his father was telling him that his possible future wife and her mother were both coming to visit his home did not thrill him.

But then, there was the matter of the people that he had to think about. Obviously, if he accepted the marriage alliance, his people would benefit. Deny the union, and that would be war.

It was clear which one was more important. Rikan still had not spoke since Kai had asked him about the marriage alliance; Kai supposed he was still trying to determine exactly how Kai knew about his plans. But none of that mattered now. Pasting on a thin smile, Kai looked at his father.

"It doesn't matter what they're here for, father. I'll see to it that they are comfortable and relaxed during their stay."

After all, Kai had a duty to his country and his people.

Whatever the personal cost for him and no matter the royals of a different race seeking a union with him.

He had to protect his country.

Sorry if the personal details betweenChannary, Selene, and Levana and their lunar back story are a little awkward; I haven't read Fairest, so I just went with whatever the wikia said.


	3. Chapter 2: The Princess That Tried

**And here's another chapter! To all the reviews left on the first two parts, if you have any questions about the story, feel free to directly PM me. I'd be happy to answer your questions to the best of my ability.**

Princess Selene stared straight at the colored globe that rose up in front of the ship she was aboard with her mother, a ship bound for Earth and the Eastern Commonwealth.

She reflected on all of the things that had led up to this point, of her being on this ship and her being on the way to meeting the royal family of the biggest territory of the Earthern Union. And her possible future husband thrown in the mix.

"Selene," A sweet, melodious voice rose up behind the princess and she turned to face her mother. Queen Channary was the very definition of stunning— tanned skin, chestnut hair, and eyes that curved upward at the ends as if Channary was perpetually smiling. (Technically Selene knew that the last feature was part of her mother's glamor, but Channary was so skilled at her glamour that almost no one, save for Selene and a few select others, knew they were just a mirage.)

"Yes, mother?" Selene kept her voice as melodious as her mother's, sweet and saccharine. She hated it.

"You know how important this trip is for us. It gives Luna the bond we need with Earth." Channary wrinkled her eyebrows. "Although, it doesn't really matter whether we come in bearing white flags or guns. Luna will be able to be in charge of Earth whatever the means. Glamours are such powerful things, after all."

Selene's heat pounded, the sound ringing in her ears. "Yes, mother." She mumbled.

"I'll see you at the entrance in half and hour, Selene." Channary started her walk away from Selene, but paused halfway, and turned. She walked towards her daughter again, and enclosed her in her arms. Selene embraced her back, and she smelled her mother's familiar scent of lavendar and peach.

"I care very much for you, Selene." Channary whispered into her daughter's ear as she held her close. "I hope you realize that." And with that, the queen released her daughter.

Selene gazed back. "Of course, mother. I love you."

For a moment, Channary stiffened, and Selene briefly considered her words. Her mother had told her several times that she believed love was a weakness. A distraction.

But all Selene's doubts were washed away once she saw her mother's serene smile return. "Of course, Selene. The dock, though, sweetheart. In half an hour. And do fix your hair, one side is sticking out more than the other, and if you insist on not wearing your veil, you should at least make yourself look presentable."

Queen Channary left the room, and Selene snatched the nearest handheld mirror within arm's reach. She gazed into her reflection.

Selene had always been told she was beautiful. And when she was young, she had accepted it. Relished it, lived on it. But now that she was older, she understood that there were many different standards to measure by to determine if someone was beautiful.

But for her, she had discovered that everything was based solely on her royal status. She could be wearing banana peels on her body and the servants would still kneel and praise her "beauty." And if she was still the naive young girl she had been, she would have accepted it.

People thought that being royal meant you had the utmost freedom to do whatever you wanted. In some cases, that was true.

But not in this one.

Selene hastily grabbed a pin to tame her hair and looked back into the mirror. Good. Her hair was back in place.

She looked back into the mirror, and she saw something else in her reflection. She saw a young girl, not quite yet a woman, not quite a child. Selene was nineteen; if all went according to Channary's plan, her future husband would be twenty-one.

Selene had never met Prince Kaito of the Eastern Commonwealth, but a quick net search showed that the prince was strikingly handsome, had thousands of net fan groups, and had done (apparently, to quote a newspaper article praising the royal family) "hundreds of good deeds" for not only the Eastern Commonwealth, but for the entire Earthern Union. (Selene found that last piece of information hard to believe.)

But what struck her the most was that he was also so young. They were both so young. And yet, their parents intended to wed them together. Or, at least one of their parents.

Selene didn't want to get married. She was nineteen. She had her entire life to live out. She wanted to see the world, outside of her home planet and outside of the palace where she had grown up. And if she felt this way, she could only imagine how Prince Kaito felt.

She had brought the topic up one morning when her mother had been doing her hair in front of a mirror. Her mother had laughed and said, "A husband does not limit a queen, Selene. You will still be able to see the world. And," —Channary smiled devishly— "if you are not pleased with your husband's... abilities, you are welcome to take another lover."

Selene couldn't explain to her that it didn't matter to her if her new husband was good in bed or not, it mattered to her whether he was kind or sweet or good to the people he was in charge of. She just wanted someone to love her. She knew her mother tried, but still Selene yearned for something more than her mother's inability to say the words "I love you" back to the princess.

Take her cousin for example. Princess Winter was Selene's best friend, along with the guard that was sworn to protect her, Jacin Clay. Selene could see how much Jacin cared for Winter, even beyond what everyone called "her craziness." Jacin looked at Winter with a look in his eyes that Selene wished she could experience. It took quite a while for Jacin to admit that he lived Winter back, but once he did, they became together. They eloped (well, more like "snuck off into the gardens for three hours before they were caught") and were found snuggled together behind a large rose shrub. Jacin would have had his head chopped off for unlawful interaction with the princess, had Selene and Winter not stepped in and pulled some strings.

If only Selene could lay claim to such a whirlwind romance.

And now her chances were even slimmer with this marriage.

 _God, will I ever get out of this?_

 ** _A/N: Since I'm copying and p pasting this directly from my WattPad story of the same name, some of the italics are not published, so if you want the full effects of the italics and such, you may be better off reading it from WattPad. My WattPad account is EtoileDAmour._**


	4. Chapter 3: Alliances and Amicableness

"Ready to land, in fifteen!"

Selene braced herself not for a bumpy landing, but for what came after it.

The Eastern Commonwealth and their royal family. Selene's future home for eight months. When her mother had told her that she was going to stay in the Commonwealth for such a long period of time, she had immediately protested.

"Mother, we barely know them and now you're asking me to stay with them for nearly a year?"

"Selene." Channary's voice was stern, with absolutely no visible sympathy for her daughter. "You understand how important this alliance is to us, yes? Good. Then you see that it is _essential_ for your visit. This could be the final point where Luna and Earth become one!"

Selene had sunk back at that point, completely defeated. She had known of her mother's dreams and plans to take over Earth for quite a while now, but this... this was almost cruel. Sending Selene into the Commonwealth and commanding her to stay there, maintaining an air of democratic alliance when she was actually the "inside spy" for Luna?

Maybe she was overreacting. Yes, that must be it. Channary would never do anything to hurt her daughter.

Selene quickly brushed that out of her mind. She knew about her mother's intentions, and she knew of how deceptive they were.

"Five seconds until landing!" A loud voice echoing over the loudspeaker jolted Selene back to the present, and she scrambled up from her seat and threw open the doors of her room, hurrying down the hall towards the entrance. The queen was already there, veil on. Even thought she couldn't see her mother's face, Selene still felt her eyes burning into the back of her head, and she grimaced.

Then, she heard the trumpets. Then sunlight.

"Announcing Her Royal Majesty the Queen of Luna, Queen Channary, and her daughter Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess of Luna, Princess Selene!"

 _Oh stars._

With a gulp of air, Selene stepped out of the ship.

 _Home sweet home._

Selene had heard of the beauty of the palace of New Beijing. And indeed it was beautiful. The sunlight glittered off of the rooftop tiles with an elegance that rivaled even that of the Lunar palace. Flowers crawled up the sides of the grand building, exploding in bursts of red, pink, yellow, and a myriad of other brilliant colors.

But the view was simply too peaceful to suit the things that needed to happen that day, and as soon as Queen Channary composed herself accordingly, they began their descent down the ramp towards the emperor and his son.

Emperor Rikan stood in front of several guards, flanked on one side by a man that Selene recognized as Konn Torin, the emperor's chief advisor. Emperor Rikan appeared older than her actually was, it seemeed, but his eyes still held the slightest spark of light in them as he greeted Channary and Selene. "Welcome, Your Majesty, and Your Highness, to our kingdom. We hope that you will enjoy your stay here, and if you have any need for something, please, feel free to —"

"—oh, there's no need for such formalities right now!" Channary tittered. She gave the emperor a smil that was not write visible under her veil. "We can sort that all out later. Is this your son?" She turned suddenly to face the young man flanking Rikan's other side, and Selene caught the first glimpse of Prince Kaito.

Indeed, he was as handsome as his net pictures bragged. He had dark hair that had been combed back, an elegantly poised nose, and brown eyes that were the color of cocoa. The only thing marring his handsomeness was the half-scowl he had on.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Rikan gestured towards Kaito. "This is my son, Prince Kaito of the Eastern Commonwealth."

Channary stepped forward and examined the young man. Then she broke out in a delighted tone. "Why, I can certainly see the father-son resemblance! It's a pleasure to meet you, Prince Kaito."

Kaito bowed stiffly. "The pleasure is all mine, Your Majesty."

"Oh, how could I forget?" Channary placed a hand on Selene's back and essentially pushed her forward a little, towards the prince. "This is my daughter, Princess Selene."

Selene heard the emperor mumble a few words of welcome, but she wasn't really listening. All of her attention was focused on the prince.

She suddenly realized that he was examining her, but not in the way that Channary had been examining the prince just a couple of minutes ago. The prince was looking at her as if he was genuinely puzzled about her.

Oh, stars. Selene suddenly realized that unlike her mother, she didn't have her veil on. A bet search that she had once conducted showed that most Eartherns thought that all Lunars wore some form of a veil. And in a way, they were right. But Selene had given up her veil years ago, the same week she realized that beauty was a mirage. Was the prince gaping at her because of the absence of her veil? Was that it? Did she have another loose hair again? Was she projecting an awkward glamour?

But she didn't get an answer, because at that very moment, a roar rose up from the people who were crowded around the palace. They were chanting, screaming, "NO LUNARS. NO LUNARS, NO TROUBLE. NO LUNARS, NO TROUBLE."

Selene's heart sank as she looked out at the crowd. They were chanting and holding up signs that depicted messages of hate towards the Lunar family, along with messages of "WE DON'T WANT YOU HERE" and "STOP ENDANGERING OUR PEOPLE!"

Suddenly, the crowd fell silent, and Selene knew what had happened. Her head whipped toward her mother, fearing the worst. Her mother was looking out at the crowd, doing absolutely nothing but staring. But that in itself was one of the most horrifying things Selene had ever experienced.

Being under her mother's bioelectricity manipulation.

The silence was deafening, but eventually, Channary turned back to the emperor. "Well, where were we?"

The crowd stayed silent. The emperor looked uncertain, but began conversing with both Konn Torin and Queen Channary in low tones.

Selene looked back at the prince. He had his eyes narrowed, still staring at the crowd. He looked back at her, though, and Selene felt herself being examined once more.

Finally, the prince stepped forward. "A privilege to meet you, Princess Selene."

Selene felt her heart contract, for some strange reason. "And you, Prince Kaito. I look forward to my stay in New Beijing."

 _"I look forward to my stay in New Beijing?"_ Selene's inside voice mentally berated her. Oh, stars. She sounded so much more condescending than she had initially intended. Not that she had intended to sound condes— god, why was this so hard?

She could feel the prince's eyes on her, but all he said was one sentence in reply.

"You can call me Kai."

 **A/N: I'll admit, I did steal that "glamouring the crowd" thing from** ** _Cinder._** **Thank you all sosososo much for all of your support! I'll have the next chapter up soon!**


	5. Chapter 4: Deign To Be A Diplomat

Kai wasn't sure what to make of the Lunar Princess.

The queen, he categorized in an instant. Queen Channary walked in from of Kai, forcing a barrier between him and his father. She conversed in hushed tones with the emperor and Konn Torin, as if she was making sure Kai and Selene couldn't hear. (Kai was irked to admit to himself that she was succeeding.)

But while he was quite convinced his animosity towards the veiled monarch was quite justified, his feelings about her daughter were mixed. When Kai had seen her coming down the ramp of the royal Lunar ship, he had immediately felt a sense of scorn for Selene, whom he had immediately saw that, accordingly with the "customs" and such with her people, she was strikingly beautiful, dark chestnut hair twisted into the back of her head, tanned skin, glittering brown eyes, and a pair of ruby-red lips.

But the one thing that he had noticed as the royal party neared the palace was that unlike her mother and the royal thaumaturges and guards that flanked them, Princess Selene of Luna was not graceful. Well, she was, but not in the symmetrical, perfect way that her mother was. Analyzing her steps carefully, Kai found that she was walking crookedly, as if she was unsteady or nervous. And that led to many more revelations about Princess Selene— also unlike her mother, she was not wearing a veil to hide her apparent "untouchable" beauty, she was not wearing a grand dress like her mother (she was wearing a rather loose golden dress that flowed down to her ankles), and when she talked, she enunciated her words with the faintest hint of a stutter. And most importantly of all, when she talked, he felt no hint of a burning desire to worship her, like Queen Channary's saccharine voice had influenced him just mere minutes ago. She wasn't using a glamour on him.

In spite of all of that, Kai couldn't help but still feel suspicious. Was this all an act? Had Princess Selene and her mother dicussed not using the princess' glamour to lure Kai into a false sense of safety? Was this part of a larger con in order to trick him into marrying her without argument?

And yet...

"Prince Kai?" Kai was jolted out of his thoughts by a voice, and he refocused his gaze towards the person who had spoken. Princess Selene was looking at him with a hint of concern in her eyes. She blushed when he looked at her. "I'm sorry, you just looked a little too deep in thought."

Kai raked his fingers through his hair. "Yes, I was rather lost in my own memories, I apologize."

Selene let out a nervous laugh. "It happens to me quite a lot as well. I always needed my friend to snap me out of it."

"Ah."

The pair fell back into silence, as they stared at the backs of the three adults that strode in front of them.

"Emperor Rikan," Queen Channary's melodious voice rose up in front of them, causing the entire group to freeze. Kai had to lean back and steady himself in order to prevent him from crashing into Torin.

"Yes, Your Majesty?" Kai knew his father well enough to notice the hint of nervousness in his tone. "Is there anything wrong?"

"Oh, certainly not, Emperor. It is just that I noticed that we should perhaps sit down and discuss our business in a room where there is a less chance of people catching word of our plans." Channary paused. "And I've noticed that our respective children seem rather... What is the word? Bored. Perhaps we should separate our group and allow our children to get to know each other?"

Kai felt himself gulp, and a sneak peek at Selene showed that her eyes had widened significantly.

Emperor Rikan hesitated. "Your Majesty, I mean no disrespect, but would it not be better to include Prince Kaito and Princess Selene in our discussions? They are an essential part of our kingdoms..."

"I do not think it is necessary, Emperor." A pause. Then, Channary's voice changed. "I believe it would be better if we discussed these things in private."

The Queen's voice had completely morphed to become even more .saccharine and smooth, and Kai felt his vision of her change completely. She wasn't a manipulative witch, she was stunning, beautiful, sweet, kind, and—

There was a sharp intake of breath next to him. Kai forced himself to turn his head, and he saw the Princess Selene once more. Her eyes were squeezed shut, her fingers laced together tightly.

What on earth (and the moon) was she doing? Was she... resisting her mother? What was she doing? But all it took was that one vision of her to break Kai's manipulated thoughts and clear his mind. He blinked, and he looked at Princess Selene once more. She was still frozen in the same rigid position. How or why, he had no idea. But somehow, he could tell she was resisting her mother's glamour. But why? And how?

Unfortunately, Kai could tell Emperor Rikan hadn't been able to resist the queen, and he nodded his head dumbly, caving into the queen. "Yes, I agree... Kai, why don't you show Princess Selene our gardens? They're quite lovely..."

Kai felt his heart pound so hard a headache came on. "Father, the gardens? They haven't been open since—"

"Kai." Torin's voice was low, reminding him of his place. "The queen would like you to take the princess to our garden."

Kai could feel Selene shifting uncomfortably next to him, but Kai reluctantly relented. Bowing towards the queen and his father, he nodded towards Princess Selene to follow him.

She did, after a long moment, and Kai led her to the back of the palace, towards the gardens and away from the three adults.

Kai couldn't help but still feel bitter towards the entire scene. Why did the queen have to manipulate everyone around her to do her bidding? Why did she have to—

"You don't have to take me to see the gardens," Selene blurted out. Kai turned to face the princess, tilting his head slightly down (he was taller than her by a couple of inches). Kai raised a quizzical eyebrow.

Selene was visibly nervous, and she gulped. "I mean, I can see that you obviously don't want to show me the gardens, um, they must mean something really special to you, and it's okay, you know, if you don't want to show them to me, I'll just tell my mother that you did, and we can just act like this never really happened because you obviously don't really want to get to know me and that's okay. And, um, I'm sorry about my mother's manipulation. She just likes to get what she wants."

Kai stared at Selene. Strangely enough, her torrent of words had actually pierced his mind more than anything else that day, and not for the first time that day, his opinion of her changed. Selene was willing to lie to her mother, whom she obviously cared for, in order to prevent Kai from doing something he didn't want to do. She had apologized on her mother's behalf, and most importantly... she had seen something in him from the moment he had protested against going to the gardens. Something similar to sentiment in his tone, maybe.

Kai looked at Selene again. She was fidgeting with her fingers, looking down at the ground.

"Princess Selene?"

Her head rose. "Yes?"

Kai held his arm out in a gentlemanly gesture. "I'd like to show you our royal gardens."

 **A/N: Due to this story being typed from my phone, there might be some spelling errors and grammar errors. I will do my best to scope them out, but just BEAR WITH ME if I don't get all of them. Also, I realize that these chapters are a bit fast-paced and choppy— I'll do my best to slow them down. Thanks for your support!**


	6. Chapter 5: The Garden

**Hey! I'm back with a new chapter! Sorry for the three day delay, but I actually have decided that I just can't uupdate everyday, especially when I read over some of my earlier chapters and I realized that they were much too fast paced. I'm going to spend a little more time editing the plotline of the story and developing my characters more.**

 **This was my favorite chapter to write so far, and I'm pretty proud of it.**

Selene's heart palpitated as the prince guided her down the hall. How could he not hate her for everything that she had done? Or, more accurately, how could he not hold her responsible for her mother's actions and what she could have done?

Nevertheless, Selene allowed herself to be led through a maze of halls and doors, following the prince. The pair walked in silence, until Kai finally blurted out a question.

"Why did you resist your mother's glamour?"

Selene felt her heartbeat quicken even further. "I don't know what you're talking about, Your Highness."

"It's Kai. And when your mother was convincing my father and Torin to hold a more clandestine meeting, I felt the effects of her powers. But I looked at you, and..." He trailed off.

Selene's heart was beating overtime. She had been visibly aware of what she had been doing during her mother's conversation with Konn Torin and Emperor Rikan. Fists clenched, eyes squeezed shut. She just hadn't planned for the prince to noticed.

"...you were just standing there, and your eyes were shut tightly, and it looked like you were trying to block out the world the best you could." Kai finished with a hesitant tone, waiting for her reaction.

Selene desperately grasped for some sort of idea to present in her mind, but no straws were found. She began to perspirate even harder.

"Princess Selene?" Kai's voice rose up once more next to her.

Selene turned a slowly as she could, but she caught a glimpse to something out of the corner of her eye. "Is that the garden? Oh, good, we should probably hurry, our parents are probably almost done talking, we wouldn't want to miss out—"

Selene hadn't realized she was essentially dragging Prince Kai after her until she was out of the palace. A burst of humid air rushed into her face, but it was almost immediately forgotten in favor of the sight that greeted her instead. She gasped at the beauty.

Indeed, the royal garden of New Beijing did not disappoint. It took a second for Selene's eyes to adjust to the brilliance. Honeysuckle and roses climbed up columns and statues in the garden, adorning them with fireworks of every color imaginable. Flower bushes and regular green ones alike lined the walls of the garden, and flowering fruit trees stood tall and proud against the harsh New Beijing sunlight.

"It's beautiful," Selene breathed. She hadn't realized she was still gripping Kai's hand until he gently pulled away.

"It is," Kai told her, a glint in his eyes. "It's the middle of May, now, so everything has either bloomed completely or is about to bloom. You came at just the right time to survey what New Beijing's plant life has to offer, it seems." Kai paused again. "No one really officially tends this garden anymore. My mother used to... until, well, you know." Kai made a gesture with his hands.

Selene felt her heart drop a little, and she just wanted to reach out and comfort him a little, but stopped herself before she could. They had to act professional, after all. "I'm sorry," she said lamely. "I didn't realize."

To her surprise, Kai laughed. "Why do you keep doing that?"

"Doing what?"

"Every time something awkward or crazy has happened today, you've apologized, even if it's not your fault. Why is that?"

Selene paused. "I've never really thought of it that way," she replied, slowly. "I just feel like sometimes someone should say something for others, even if they don't have to. Sometimes we need to convince ourselves there is some sense of salvation for everyone."

"Mmm."

The two stood in the middle of the bushy, untrimmed grass (the only thing that was seemingly unpredictable in the utopian garden), not saying anything, until Selene hesitantly said, "Pri— I mean, Kai?"

"Yes, Princess Selene?"

"It's just Selene," she said hastily. "You mentioned your mother before... what was she like?"

For a split second, Selene realized how deeply personal her question was. Asking about someone else's dead mother literally three hours after you've just met them was not in Selene's books of etiquette among aristocrats.

But Kai didn't seem too bothered by it. "She was kind." He started slowly. "Sweet, good, understanding, and encouraging. She always smiled, unless she was angry with me or my father."

"What did she do then?"

Kai grinned, and Selene was dazzled again by his easygoing smile, even towards her, a member of a race so many Eartherns despised. "Well, it depends. Sometimes, if it was my father she was irked with, she'd make all of his cabinet members leave him alone for a while, then she'd go in herself and threaten to shred all of his notes and documents, and she wouldn't give them back until he apologized for whatever he did to offend her."

If it had been anyone else or if it had been told it a different way, Selene would have scoffed and said it was childish. But the way that Kai told it, with nostalgia obviously present in his eyes and warmth in his voice, drew her in until she felt his emotions herself.

"And if she was frustrated with you... Kai?"

"When she was frustrated with me, she'd hide my toys or whatever I was interested in, and she waited for her anger to sizzle down to give in to my incessant whining for my belongings."

Selene felt a laugh burst out of her mouth, surprising herself. "Well, I hope you weren't a child that was too naughty in your seedling years, Prince Kai."

"Unfortunately, it took quite some time for me to iron out my wrinkles." Kai's lips flicked up into a charming smile. "So what about your mother, Selene?"

Selene felt her chest become heavy, and a burning pain rose up in her mind. Memories, good and bad, flooded her mind.

"I— I'd rather not really say, if you don't mind. I just—" Selene suddenly realized that she was unconsciously tipping herself back into a nearby rose bush. Hastily straightening back up away from the threatening thorns, she faced the prince again. "Don't get me wrong, Kai, I love my mother. She's been someone for me to look up to a lot, and I value the faith she has in me. But sometimes she becomes too much for me to handle, and sometimes I don't live up to her standards, and she doesn't like that. But I still care for her very much, and I always will."

Kai looked at her with a new look in her eyes. One of... understanding? Confusion? Hatred? Selene couldn't really tell.

Thankfully, the pair was saved from more awkward conversation by a nearby call of, "Your Highness Princess Selene! Prince Kaito!"

Turning, both of them spotted a servant who was waving at Kai. Hurrying over, the servant panted, "Your Highness Crown Princess Selene of Luna, and Prince Kai, the Emperor informed me to tell both of you that his meeting with Royal Advisor Konn Torin and Her Majesty the Queen of Luna, Queen Channary, has concluded and both of you are now welcome to regroup with them." The servant finished this in one breath, and the poor girl looked like she was on the verge of collapse.

"Thank you, Catherine." Kai nodded.

Catherine turned to leave, but Selene impulsively blurted out, "Wait!"

Catherine turned around, startled. "Your Highness?"

Selene took a breath. From the looks of the crowd outside, Eartherns pretty much hated all Lunars in general. Selene almost agreed with them. But the scared, frantic way that Catherine had addressed her with all of her titles —compared to Kai and the emperor, who were definitely more important than her— made her realize that not all Eartherns truly hated Lunars.

Some were just scared of the bogeymen who lived on the moon.

Catherine couldn't have been more than fifteen, by the looks of her.

"Princess?" She heard Kai's voice, underlined with concern. "Do you have anything to say to Catherine?"

Catherine looked helpless, trapped between waiting for the Lunar Princess and just plain running for her life. But Selene managed to steel herself. "Catherine," she began, not really planning anything out. "You don't really have to call me by all of my titles. Princess Selene is fine. Just Selene, even. I've never really been a fan of the social/royal/politic hierarchy." Selene tried to send a nervous smile towards Catherine, who was still pale.

Catherine looked downright shocked at calling Selene anything but "Her Highness The Princess of Luna Princess Selene Blackburn" (Or whatever came after that.)

"Your Highness—"

"Selene." Selene insisted quietly.

"Selene." Catherine's tongue seemed to try out her name as if it was something completely foreign.

"Call me Selene, Catherine. If we meet again, you don't need to call me anything else unless..." Selene hesitated. "Unless you are ever in the presence of any diplomats or monarchs or politicians. Then you may use as many titles as you like."

Catherine's face had softened into something other than fright. It almost looked like a faint smile. "Yes, Your— Selene. I understand." Ducking her head ever so slightly, Catherine hurried away.

"That was kind of you." Selene jumped as Kai spoke again. He had been so quiet during the whole conversation with Catherine she had forgotten he was there.

"I hardly think it was kindness." Selene scoffed as they made their way out of the garden and into the grand palace once more. Somehow, the conversation with Catherine had calmed her nerves and made her... More daring? More comfortable? She didn't really know. "It stemmed out of a dislike for status separation and for the royal hierarchy."

Kai raised an eyebrow. Selene's eyes widened, realizing what she had just said. "Oh, Prince Kai, I didn't mean— um, I —"

"It's okay." Kai let out a relaxed laugh. "I'm guessing the difference between classes is more prominent on Luna?"

Selene thought about her mother, bedecked in jewels and riches, and then she thought about her cousin, who had been dressed so simply before she had come to the palace, then to Jacin Clay, who had accompanied her on this trip and had been forced join the royal guard at the age of sixteen despite wanting to be a doctor. And the shells that existed on the moon, who were taken away at birth simply because they were different.

"Yes," she murmured. "They're much more different."

They reached the main hall once more. Kai turned to face her. His lips quirked into a smile that was only visible from the corner of his lips. "So then... I'll see you sometime soon, then... Selene?"

Selene nodded slowly in spite of her now (again) palpitating heart. "Yeah— yes! Um, I'll see you soon, Kai."

Kai nodded, smiled, and turned, walking away.

 _I'll see you sometime soon._


	7. Chapter 6: Two Queens

Kai shifted rather uncomfortably in his seat. He, along with his father and Konn Torin, among other members of his father's cabinet, was seated on one of the raised platforms overlooking the room, on the far left of the dining hall.

It had been a week since the Lunars had arrived in the Commonwealth, and some of the panic had died down, but not completely. Kai hadn't seen Selene since the garden, which made him slightly uncomfortable when he glimpsed her at the opposite side of the room, despite having told her he would "see her soon" just a couple of days ago.

The Lunar party, with Queen Channary, Princess Selene, and a whole group of thaumaturges (including Royal Thaumaturge Elissa Heliore) was seated all the way on the opposite side of the hall. Everyone in the group sat calmly at their table (save for some royal guards standing protectively around the party), chatting and exchanging meaningful looks with each other. The queen sat in the midst of it all, veil turned towards the crowd of people that sat in the middle of the two royal families. It was a chatty, warm atmosphere, full of cheer.

And yet, something about the Lunar Queen's unseen face unnerved him.

Emperor Rikan stood up. "Welcome," he said, looking out at the small group of politicians and representatives from all over the world that made up the crowd of people sitting between the two main tables (which vaguely reminded Kai of a mosh pit) "to the Eastern Commonwealth. For those of you who are foreigners to our country, we hope that you enjoy your stay here while you dine with us this evening. We would also like to introduce some special guests of ours tonight, Her Majesty the Queen of Luna, Queen Channary, Her Highness the Crown Princess of Luna, Princess Selene, and some of the royal thaumaturges from the Lunar Court, including Head Thaumaturge Elissa Heliore..."

Kai stopped listening after that and scanned the crowd. He could clearly make out the representatives from all across the Earthern Union among the crowd, their faces fixed on Kai's father while occasionally darting to the side to look warily at Queen Channary. He recognized Jamal Nuy, the representative from the African Union; Chedelina Gare, parliament member from the United Kingdom; Government leader Trewett Litchfield from Australia; Senator Samantha Williamson of America, and parliament representative Keal O'Pierce from the European Federation. So many political figures, so many political moves to make this evening. Queen Channary had chosen an extremely convenient time to make any maneuvers, Kai realized.

After Rikan's speeches finished, dinner was served. An opening appetizer of salad with sweet tangerine and pepper sauce; a first course with chicken and roasted chesnuts, and so on. It wasn't until the fourth course that trouble arose.

"Aaaahhh!" A frantic shriek erupted from the opposite side of the room. Everyone in the room turned to look. Kai craned his neck, but it turned out he didn't have to.

Queen Channary had stood up. "How dare you?" She screeched at someone that Kai couldn't see over the sea of politicians. "How dare you try to glimpse my face?"

Emperor Rikan had stood up now, and Kai followed suit. He could see now that the person that the queen had been shouting at was Catherine, the girl who Kai and Selene had been talking to in the garden. Her face was pale now, all the color flushed out of her cheeks. She looked terrified.

Selene was also standing next to her mother, but her mahogany eyes were fixed on the queen, not Catherine. Her face was also deathly pale.

There was a moment of silence following the queen's outburst. The entire room held its breath. Kai stared at the queen, wondering if she would dare try to do anything to Catherine in a room full of diplomats. Would she put an entire alliance on the line just for this one moment of vanity? Kai was afraid to let himself think the answer out.

Then, he saw it. It was just a miniscule nod to her side, barely enough to be visible.

But it was enough to ignite the person whom the queen had gestured to. A royal thaumaturge (Not Thaumaturge Heliore— she was standing next to the princess, her hand grasping Selene's wrist) and a guard sprung into action, and Catherine screamed. The guard grasped her by the arms, dragging her out of the hall, but Catherine wasn't looking at them, or even straight at the crowd. Instead, she was staring up at the ceiling, mouth still open in a wordless cry of pain.

"Stop!" Selene's voice echoed across the dining hall. She had broken free from Thaumaturge Heliore, eyes wide. She pleaded with her mother.

"Please, mother, please, she didn't do anything—"

"She attempted to violate one of the most sacred traditions of our people, Selene." Channary's voice was cool, composed. "It is only fitting that she be punished for her insolence and negligence, although I highly doubt that there is anyone in this room that is unaware of our customs." The queen turned away from her daughter.

"Mother!" It was a desperate cry now, and Kai suddenly remembered how kind Selene had been towards Catherine in the garden. It seemed that Selene had remembered as well. "It was a pure mistake on her part, it was just a fork that—"

"Silence, now, Selene. This is not your place to talk." Channary snapped at her daughter.

Rikan stepped forward. "Your Majesty, I apologize for the commotion, but under the agreement of 54 T.E., you are not permitted to take anyone from the Earthern Union away from the planet. We will deal with the servant, your Majesty—"

Channary turned towards the emperor, and Kai knew what was coming, and felt the urge to leap forward and turn his father away from Channary's gaze. But Rikan stood still and tall, unwavering.

"My dear Emperor Rikan," Channary purred. "Would you not agree that the traditions of every group of people are their most prized possession?"

Dazedly, Rikan nodded, but he looked conflicted, as if he was trying to fight the manipulation.

"Yes? Then I am confident that you see why we need to take the girl into our custody."

"Yes," Rikan murmured. "Quite so."

Instinctively, Kai moved forward. "Father, what are you—" His tongue went limp, and he looked up to see one of the thaumaturges looking at him. Kai relented, but didn't back away from his father.

Turning back to the sea of diplomats who were all standing, silently shocked at the turn of events, Channary clapped her hands together. "Now, why don't we resume our festivities? That was quite enough drama for the night." Her voice was sweet, and Kai felt a wave of her glamour wash over him again, and unwillinglu, he, along with the rest of the individuals in the hall, sat back down. Kai felt his father next to him, still stiff with shock.

Casting his eyes across the room, Kai saw the princess again. She seemed to be engaged in an argument with the blonde-haired Head Thaumaturge. Thaumaturge Heliore was shaking her head violently at Selene, her lips moving rapidly. Selene seemed to fire back equally fast, wringing her hands in the air multiple times. Finally, Selene shook her head one last time, pushed back her chair, and disappeared beneath the raised platform that the rest of her people sat on. Kai fixed his eyes on the exit, and sure enough, Selene hurried out just a few seconds later.

Kai was curious. Had Selene gone to save Catherine? Did she just want to get away from the dining hall? Leaning over, Kai muttered a quick message of leave to his father, who nodded distractedly before turning back to his conversation with Torin.

Kai had walked three halls and turned four times before he heard voices.

"Jacin, please, she's younger than both of us! And I saw what happened, it was an accident! The fork on the plate that she was carrying got caught on the veil, and don't you dare tell me she positioned it intentionally!" Selene's voice, yelling at whoever "Jason" was.

Kai flattened his back against the wall and peered slightly around the fifth corner. He could see the Lunar princess talking to the royal guard that had taken Catherine away. Kai recognized the guard— one of the guards clothed in the uniform of a higher-ranking officer that had flanked Channary when she had first descended the ship. What was his name? Jason? Jacin. Yes, Jacin.

The thing that frightened him, however, was the fact that Catherine was nowhere in sight. Kai's heart dropped.

"I can't, I have orders from my queen to take the girl away." The blond guard replied.

"Jacin!" Kai could hear the frustration in Selene's voice. "Do you hear yourself? You're basically sentencing a what, fifteen year old? Sixteen year old? To death! Or even worse, imprisonment in a Lunar household! And don't tell me it won't be so bad— I know what happens in Lunar households, I've been to them. Jacin, please, I'm not asking you to smuggle her to the American Republic! I'm just asking you to let her go, and not even outside of the palace! You'd be letting her into my protection. You don't have to worry about if you'll be punished, I'll take care of that."

"Look, Cinder—" A sigh. Cinder? Kai wondered. "— I would let her go if I could. But I can't. Our queen would impale my head on a stake— no, don't try to prove me wrong— if I ever disobeyed her. I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do."

There was a pause. Then an intake of breath. "Jacin, you're one of my oldest friends, and we dont always see eye to eyes, but on this topic, could you just agree—"

"— Cinder, I've done all I can. I put her in the cleanest cell on the ship, and I gave her more than enough food to last the rest of the Queen's stay. I'm sorry, Cinder, I just can't do anything. I'm really sorry."

Footsteps echoed towards him, and Kai ducked into the nearest dark room he could find. But long after the footsteps faded away, he still sat on the floor of the pitch black space, thinking to himself. About Catherine. About the queen. About the Eastern Commonwealth.

About Selene and her outburst. And her attempts to save Catherine. Or so it seemed.

Maybe there had been two queens at this dinner. One who held the fate of the world in her voice, and one who tried to salvage the world in hers.

S **oo... Yeah. I just stole this from Cinder, and I feel really guilty about this. (Along with the scene where Channary and Selene first arrive in the Commonwealth.)**

 **I hate author's notes, but I'm just using this one to tell all of my WONDERFUL readers that this story might be delayed for a bit, but only to the point where there might only be one chapter per week, because I'm having a little bit of trouble laying out the plotline of the story. I know where the major events are, but I have to fill in the gaps between them, which is proving to be a little tricky. I've already written the next chapter, but it needs to go through some serious editing (I've already deleted a thousand words from it and started over).**

 **But as a bit of a teaser, I'm going to map out the major characters and easter eggs from the actual series included in this story.**

 **Watch out for Elissa Heliore and Catherine, as well as some of the diplomats included in the crowd in this chapter. They are going to appear at least twice more in the story, although I'm not so sure about the diplomats— but Elissa and Catherine are a definite.**

 **As you saw in this, we are going to get hints of Winter, Jacin, Torin, and other characters from TLC, although not the characters Cinder has met and recruited such as Scarlet, Wolf, Thorne, or Cress. Other minor or secondary characters might make cameos, so keep your eyes on the lookout.**

 **We're going to get more flashes from Selene on life on Luna, and the friendship between her and Jacin. (And more references to the name "Cinder" as well— it's going to have an interesting BACKSTORY that is going to be more closely related to the original Cinderella story (you already know what it is, don't you?!).**

 **That was all of the teasers for this chapter! Again, the next chapter won't be up for a while, I'm having a lot of creative issues with it, especially how the characters could act or think. Stay tuned though!**


	8. Chapter 7: Fruit of the Poisonous Tree

Kai stared at the wall, feeling his back becoming sore from all of the bending over and straightening back up again. He was sitting at one of the tables on the balcony of the library, books splayed all around him.

The red and gold swirls painted on the wall Kai was facing gave him a pounding headache. He had been locked up in the library the entire day, searching. And for what, he still didn't know.

He was still thinking about Channary and Catherine and Selene and that dinner six nights ago. (Had it really been that long?) He didn't know where Catherine had gone or where Channary even was, although he suspected she was part of the reason why Kai's father had been shut in his office for long periods of time, rarely coming out. And Selene? Kai had seen her occasionally walking around the palace, although she always seemed too lost in thought for him to talk to.

Kai rubbed his eyes and leaned back, before he yelped and realized that he was still sitting in the hard backed chair, and that one of the "decorative" pegs sticking out of the back had impaled his back. Sighing, he got up and dragged an office chair to the table. He glanced at the mess of books he had created. Books like _The History of the Eastern Commonwealth_ and _100 Years of Peace_ were tangled in books like _A Brief Summary of Luna_ and _The History of the Blackburn Royals._ Kai had been trying to find out where in history the EC and Luna had ever crossed before Channary's visit. Evidently, not since before Kai's grandfather's birth. It had been decades since Luna had been intimately involved with the Union. Despite hours of searching, Kai had found nothing on Luna or any possible suspicious activity. His most valuable paragraph so far came from _The History of the Blackburn Royals,_ which stated,

 _Cyprus Blackburn was the first true citizen of Luna. He was the son of Marjorie Parker and Matthew Blackburn. Parker gave birth to her son after hiding her pregnancy for nine months, as affairs among colleagues and scientists were strictly prohibited. (Marjorie and Matthew were later deported from Luna as a punishment.) However, Cyprus Blackburn was not sent back to the Earthern Union; he was kept by the remaining scientists as a test to see if humans could truly survive without any previous nurturing from Earth. When Blackburn successfully survived into his twenties, more and more scientists began to procreate, making Luna a bigger colony. However, when Blackburn entered manhood, he managed to convince the population to elect him as king. (There is still no definite answer to how this was done; although many suspect that Blackburn was the first to have the fabled "Lunar Gift" and that this might have assisted in his campaign to make Luna a monarchy.) Tension arose between Luna and the Earthern Union at this point; the Earthern leaders became suspicious of Blackburn's ability to transform Luna's government so easily, and Earth and Luna grew apart. The House of Blackburn has ruled Luna to this day._

And Kai had still gotten nothing that he didn't already know. He knew, vaguely, what he was searching for- a snippet, a paragraph, _something_ , that would teach him something about the Lunar glamour.

Kai reached over and picked up another book. It was titled _The Mysterious Moon._ Great. Another boring book with a generically "exciting" title. However, as Kai turned the book to face him, something fell out. A piece of paper (a brochure?) Kai picked it up and smoothed it out on the table, pushing several other books off. Once it was all laid out, Kai realized what it was. A family tree. The Blackburn Family.

At the top, to be expected, was Cyprus Blackburn. A line connected him to Alina Oakwood. Another line stemming from the middle of the first line split into three lines for three children, and more lines for their spouses, and so on. It wasn't until the bottom of the family tree that Kai began to pay more attention. Towards the bottom, Marrok Blackburn was connected to Jannali Whitebridge, and a line stretched down from their union to split into two names- Channary Blackburn and Levana Blackburn. A solid line linked Levana to someone named Evret Hayle, and solid line to the side connected Evret to another woman named Solstice. A solid link down to another name stemmed from Evret and Solstice- Winter. However, Channary Blackburn was linked to a question mark, and another line stemmed down from that to the name Selene Channary Jannali Blackburn.

So Selene had never known her father. Kai couldn't even imagine that— he had always looked towards his childhood with fondness because of his mother— and the times when they had been a whole family, laughing and cheering for god knows what. Selene had never had that. Kai's heart swelled suddenly with pity for her.

Kai snapped out of his haze when he heard the heavy wooden doors of the library slam, and his head snapped up. Quickly folding the family tree back up and stuffing it into his pocket, he snatched a book from the pile that he hadn't knocked over yet and flipped open to a random page. Feigning calmness, he slowly looked towards the entrance.

Selene was leaning against the doors, panting as if she had been running a marathon.

"Selene?" Her name sounded foreign on Kai's tongue, after so many days apart. Her head snapped up, and she shot up in obvious surprise. "Pri- Kai! I, um, I didn't know you were in here! Um, you're obviously busy, I'll go... I didn't mean to disturb you, I'm sure you have plenty of more interesting things to do, ah-" Selene shook a hand. "- you know what? I'm going to go now."

"No- wait-" Kai scrambled to his feet, hurrying down the stairs. Selene halted her steps, turning around. "Actually, I was wondering if I could talk to you?"

Selene looked helpless. She had obviously wanted to dodge this meeting, and although Kai could guess why, he had to talk to her. Find out more.

"Look, I'm trying to do everything I can to get Catherine out of whatever prison my mother's trapped her in, I'm just... Stuck. Just distracted." There was an awkward pause, and Selene shifted nervously. "I'm sorry for my mother, by the way."

"You don't have to do that." Kai ran his fingers through his hair. "You don't have to apologize for every single thing that happens to us, good, bad, or downright crappy. It's not your fault."

Selene seemed to flinch a little at his words. "I'm just trying to... to... to just find a way to fix everything. You were alright before my mother and I came here, and now things have happened that none of us could have possibly anticipated, and the other Earthern representatives obviously want us gone, but they don't want to say it, and—"

"—wait. You said something about the Earthern representatives?"

"They're in one of the conference rooms." Selene looked slightly nervous. "I overheard them talking about my mother. They were saying how the Earthern Union and Luna were distant, and how Lunars were not to be trusted."

Kai fisted the bottom of his shirt in his fingers. Of course they were. Earth had been distrustful of Luna for a century. Why would that change now? "I'm sorry you had to witness that," he replied lamely. It was a sorry excuse for an apology.

He hadn't expected the faintest hint of a smile to cross the Crown Princess's lips. It was, after all, not a good time for any smiling, with Channary and Catherine and everyone else caught up in this mess. "You keep telling me to stop blaming myself for everything," she said softly. "Evidently you yourself owe me an apology for hypocrisy, Your Highness."

Kai laughed out loud, a sound that surprised him. He gave Selene a deep bow. "I formally apologize, Your Royal Highness, for my seemingly rash act of hypocrisy. It was insubordinate, rude, and stupid. I would be so humbled if you could accept this apology."

Moments later, he felt the princess curtsy to his level. "Your apology is most gracefully accepted, Your Imperial Highness."

They both straightened up, and Kai asked, "So, Princess Selene, what brings you to our royal library?"

Selene frowned ever so slightly. "Actually, to be honest, I was trying to hide from my mother and her thaumaturges."

Kai sat down at a nearby table and gestured for her to sit as well. "Oh? And why is that?"

Selene looked frustrated. "I was just thinking about how I could bring Catherine back."

"So have I."

"I've been trying to come up with a plan, maybe something to do with trying to break her out or trying to bargain with my mother for her—"

"—break her out?" Kai felt a twinge of guilt for interrupting her, but he continued. "Isn't she being held in the Commonwealth prisons in the dungeons?"

Selene hesitated for a fraction of a moment before answering. "No. She's being held in one of the cells on our Lunar ship." Selene shifted. "My mother made sure of that."

Kai stared briefly. Lunar cell? He hadn't even known where Catherine had gone. He had barely bothered to check.

Selene must have seen the confusion and irritation in his eyes, because she shrunk back. "I, uh, didn't come to you earlier because I thought you wouldn't really want to talk to me, what wih my mother and—" she broke off in the middle, looking at him, and he realized he was still distracted.

 _What an idiot._

Blinking, he quickly stammered out, "Sorry, got lost. In my mind, I mean."

Selene looked much more relaxed now. "I've been angling towards the bargaining idea... My mother has everything she wants, though, and she can get everything she wants easily. There's nothing that I can offer her that wouldn't fall into one of those categories."

"I can talk to my father, maybe he can-"

"-he can't." Selene rested her elbows on the hard oak. "Nothing your father can say will make an impact on my mother." As an afterthought, she added, "No offense."

"How could I possibly take offense?" Selene laughed. She stood, and Kai followed.

"I'll, um, update you if anything changes, then?"

"Sure. I'd like that." Kai nodded.

"Kai, are you stealing pages from the library?" Selene pointed to the crinkled, folded up Blackburn family tree that was still sticking out of his pocket. Kai had completely forgotten about it.

"Oh, this?" He chuckled nervously. "Just something I found tucked inside a book. It was already torn, so I thought, why not?" He leaned in conspiratorially. "Don't tell Torin," he whispered.

"I won't," she confirmed. "if you won't tell anyone I was in the library with you."

"Why?"

She fidgeted nervously with the sleeve of her dress. "I'm kind of trying to go incognito. You know, dodging palace security and all. Not a fan of those things."

"I know the feeling."

"Yeah, well, it's been okay so far."

"Selene?" Kai peered at the Lunar Princess. "Can I ask you a question?"

"I mean, I'm sure if I ever refused a prince it would mean World War V, so go ahead."

Kai laughed. "Six nights ago, at the banquet, I sort of... followed you out."

Selene raised her eyebrows, and Kai quickly continued, trying not to skip a beat out of nervousness. "I mean, I wanted to see where you were going. It's not everyday someone leaves a royal banquet."

"Sure."

"And I saw you talk to that palace guard— Jacin? And you seemed like you knew him."

Selene tilted her head, and it suddenly occurred to Kai how calm, how utterly relaxed he was. If he had been having a conversation with her mother, he would have stiffened up the moment she tilted her head, but he felt no panic at her miniscule gesture.

"We've been friends since childhood." Selene picked at something invisible on her fingernail. "Jacin's father was a royal guard, which meant that Jacin was at the palace almost everyday. Lots of time to bond."

"And Princess Winter? You mentioned her?"

Selene's face softened visibly at the mention of her cousin. "I've also known her since childhood. She was in the same position as Jacin- her father, Evret, was my grandparents' closest guard and my aunt's favorite." Selene paused. "Evret married my aunt a couple of years ago, which means that Winter is technically my cousin."

"Oh." Kai wasn't really sure what exactly to say, but Selene kept talking anyway.

"Winter and Jacin sort of grew closer, even though it was forbidden, they became more than friends."

Kai pondered over this. He knew from the books he had read that the Lunars were more protective of their royal family than the Earthern Union. If Kai really wanted, he could marry the palace cook for all his father could care (there had been a moment in his life where he had really, really, cared for one of the cooks. But that was over.).

"And—" Kai hesitated. He knew from etiquette lessons (because apparently Tashmi Priya could multitask doing four different jobs) that he had probably overstepped his boundaries and that he should stop. But he had a strong sense of curiosity— and before he knew it, he was finishing his sentence. "— out in the hallway, Jacin called you " Cinder." Is that... is that a nickname?"

Selene arched her eyebrows, and Kai was aware of how much she seemed to be scrutinizing him in this conversation. _Aces_.

"It is a nickname." Selene was choosing her words carefully. "A very personal one."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm obviously prying where I shouldn't be-"

"No, it's okay." Selene gave him a smile, but didn't answer his initial question.

She turned to the door. " I have to go, or else Elissa will wonder where I fun tearing pages out, I guess."

As she went out the door, he called after her, "It was already torn!"

"If you say so, if you say so."

Kai smiled to himself, and instinctively plucked the parchment paper out of his pocket. Why hadn't he told Selene about the family tree? It wasn't like it was some top secret government file (those were rarely on paper anyway). It was Selene's own family tree.

Maybe for the same unspoken reason that she hadn't told him about her nickname's backstory.

He just didn't want her to know that he was digging into her family history. After all, who would want that?

Kai made his way up to the balcony again, dragging a cushioned chair over to the table and leaning back in it.

Tommorrow Channary would leave.

And Catherine would either be on Luna or back in the palace.

 _Good luck, Selene._

 **Well... This chapter is up... :)**

 **Surprisingly, this was one of my favorite chapters, after I completely deleted my first draft of this (which had something to do with Selene showing some serious ninja skills (I'm cringing just thinking about it)).**

 **I'm not super proud of this chapter, but I'm proud of the lengthiness of this, which I think you guys deserve after a six-day wait. I've got the structure of the next chapter laid out, but I'm going through some editing and plot issues, so it's going to be a few days before it's up.**

 **Plus, I changed the story title, if you didn't notice! (And now the cover is way prettier!) It's a reference to when people say, "I'll love you to the moon and back." (Wink wink.)**

 **Thanks for all of your positive reactions and reviews!**


	9. Chapter 8: The Price of Pride

Channary sat on the Commonwealth's plush bed, raking her fingernails absentmindedly over the soft comforter, staring at the stark contrast between her blue nails and the golden blanket.

Today was the day she would get the chance to leave this place. She had spent two weeks here, in this dump, utterly bored. Not even the dinner commotion nights ago was even remotely interesting. The girl had been dealt with, and everything had settled down considerably.

As for Emperor Rikan and his insolent moron of a son, they would soon be of no concern (if they weren't already). Selene would make sure of that.

Oh, Selene. Her beautiful daughter. Indeed, it had been nineteen years, and Channary still wasn't quite used to her. Selene was the only beam of light in her life— the person she cared about the most. Which made Channary quite nervous to leave her alone on this foreign planet with only these weak Earthlings to "protect" her.

Selene was not a fighter at heart. She knew how to defend herself— with or without bioelectricity. Her gift was stronger than Channary's, the queen knew. But Selene rarely used it except in her lessons, and even then she used light glamours. It frightened Channary to think of the possibility that Selene could possibly turn into Winter, with hallucinations and visions and generally turning insane.

If Selene wasn't there, Channary would be alone. So alone.

Just as Channary was about to ring for one of the servants to remake the bed, she heard a soft knock at the door. "Mother?"

Channary smiled inwardly at the sound of Selene's voice. But outwardly, she stiffened. Into the guise of a stately queen. "Come in, the door's unlocked."

Creaking open, Selene slipped into the room. He daughter was as lovely as always, mahogany hair loose, curling past her shoulders, and her cerulean colored dress outlined her curves. As usual, she wore no glamour and no veil.

"What brings you here, Selene? I would have thought you would have been discussing your living situation with Elissa instead, seeing as you will be away from Luna for the next few months." Channary felt a twinge of something in her heart — worry? Pity? Longing. But this was quite necessary. Necessary for Luna, necessary for Channary's plans. It was for Selene's own good.

Selene shifted in front of her mother. "Elissa's already arranged everything for me. She's staying here anyway, so we can discuss any... complications later." Selene took a breath. "I'm here to talk to you about something else."

Channary patted the spot on the plush mattress next to her. "Sit down, then, and we can discuss whatever you'd like to discuss."

Her daughter smoothed out the back of her skirt and perched herself on top of the blanket. "Mother... I want to talk about the servant you want to take back to Luna. The one you imprisoned at the banquet some nights ago."

Channary thought back. It had been a rather dull night, filled with mediocre conversations and mediocre food (although the apple pecan soufflé that was served for dessert was delicious). Then, she recalled the girl that had served her one of the courses— the one whose fork had caught onto her veil.

It was true that Lunars heavily prized their glamour and their beauty. To intentionally peer at someone's true face (especially if the perpetrator in question was someone of low rank) could be considered a crime. Channary hadn't really cared about the fork or the girl— anything to make the dinner less dull (and someone should double-check the emperor on his clothing choices— two piece suits did _not_ work for _every_ occasion).

And so she had stirred up commotion, simple and easy (Earthlings were such weak creatures). One thing had led to another, and now the girl was on her way to Luna.

"What is there to discuss, darling?" Channary glanced at her daughter.

"Well, I was wondering... if you would consider releasing her."

Channary arched her perfect eyebrows. Releasing a prisoner? "And where is this stemming from, dear?"

Selene looked determined, so different from her usual self, and Channary felt almost threatened. "Mother, I saw the whole thing. It was an accident. The fork merely caught onto the very edge of your ve—"

"—and what did I tell you at the banquet? We have a reputation to keep up, Selene. We have to protect our tradition at all costs. I doubt anyone in that room that day was unaware of our traditions and celebrated style of dress."

"But it was the simple placing of a fork on a tray! It was placed that way on everyone else's trays— it was simple a jolt of nervousness or anxiety, and—"

"—the girl should have known better. You cannot let any emotions show when you are working for a queen. You are beneath them and they are your leader. You do not try anything with a queen."

There was a moment of solid silence, and Channary wondered if Selene had given up. But the crown princess merely replied bitterly. "Does this mean that _I_ am below _you_ , mother?"

Channary opened her mouth, but no sound came out. She had tried her best, in the past 19 years, to mother this girl. To give her the best she could possibly receive. And yet, Selene had touched a nerve. The root of the problem.

"If you insist on seeing it that way," Selene continued, "then maybe I should leave now, because—" her voice started to rise "—evidently you care too little about your own daughter to deviate from your own childish whims!"

If it had been anyone else who had said that, Channary would have had them executed on the spot. But this was _Selene. T_ his was her own _daughter_. And yet, she was completely right.

Selene rose to leave. "Goodbye, mother." Her tone was cold. "I'll see you off in three hours."

"Wait!" Channary grasped her daughter's wrist. It suddenly occurred to her that if Selene left her... if she left her, the only person she remotely cared about wouldd be gone.

And she couldn't possibly risk that.

"Maybe— maybe we don't need the girl—" Channary said weakly. "You can retrieve her from the ship. Code 3409."

Selene turned back to face her mother. "Thank you." Her tone was still very much stiff, but it had softened quite considerably.

As she left the room, Channary sank down into her covers.

That had been extremely close. If she lost Selene, she didn't know what she would do.

But deep down, Channary knew somehow that— that Selene was a queen. She was destined to be someone, whether she was born a princess or a pauper.

She was a queen in a way that Channary was never one.

 ***Sigh* You have no idea how dissatisfied I am with this chapter. It's so much shorter than all of my other chapters, and it's really not that great. I wanted to have a chapter where Selene and Channary could really come to an understanding about their relationship, or for Channary to realize that she was being a crappy mom to her amazing daughter.**

 **But alas, sorry readers, you get this wonderfully overhyped chapter. Honestly, I feel like this chapter narrowly falls short of claiming the award for worst chapter ever (besides Chapter 2 (?) where we're introduced to Kai. That was bad.).**

 **So, to partially make up for it, here's a teaser for a story that I may or may not be planning to write (I know, I know. "But you're writing this story already! Does this mean that TTMAB will go on a super long hiatus? The answer is no;I'm planning to write this new story when I get home from the vacation I'm currently on and get home to my laptop. It's been torture churning out thousands of words on my phone.)**

 **I'm a huge fan of Gossip Girl and I just recently got into The Royals (I know, I'm ashamed), so I've been wanting to write something like this for a long time. It's still in the drafting and development stage, but this scene was the first to pop up in my mind, and I developed the summary under it later on. Tell me what you think!**

 **Also under it are the answers to a few questions that guest reviewer Color565 asked me.**

 _She plucked the blooming flower off of the thorny stem and twirled it with her fingers. She could feel Alex's gaze on her, watching her. Waiting for her move._

 _Her fingers nimbly stroked the soft petals of the flower, reveling in the smoothness, and she suddenly remembered a moment, something that had happened a while ago. With a beach, a swim in the evening ocean, and a boy._

 _Bile rose at the back of her throat and her fingers stalled. Memories flooded back to her, and she couldn't take it, and in one swift move, the delicate flower was crushed under her force, petals crumbling and ripping as she dropped the flower in the grass._

 _She turned back to Alex, whose eyes were still fixed on her. "Love is for the gullible and the poor," she said, keeping her voice calm, but her next sentence exploded in a scream that she couldn't hold back. "Are you happy now? Are you satisfied? You must be overjoyed, to know that you've won this battle!"_

 _"Cass—"_

 _"No." She scoffed at his tone, all calm and smoothed over with pity. "You know what, Alex? You can keep doing what you're doing. You can keep playing this sick game of yours. And you can do it alone." Her anger suddenly disappeared, and she could feel tears balancing on the edges of her eyes. "I don't want to play anymore."_

 _She stormed out of the garden, not even pausing to wait for his answer. She didn't want to hear it._

 _But somewhere in the back of her mind, the memory of the crushed flower stuck out like blades of grass in dry dirt._

 _And the red sheen of the petals would not go away._

Princess. Spoiled Brat. Heiress.

Cassia Morgan has been called all of those things, but what could you expect from people who envied her? She had a perfect life— friends who worshipped her, family who adored her, and everything she could have ever wanted.

But when an old friend comes back into the picture, Cassia realizes that her life may not be exactly how she sees it. Broken and shaken beyond belief, Cassia must learn to rebuild her life while also struggling with her relationship with her old friend and the new people that come into her life.

Told through letters, diary entries, and an unnamed narrator, Cassia's story unfolds layer by layer, and perhaps the saying is true: "With each layer of the cake, it becomes more delicious, harder to cut."

QUESTION TIME

From Color565 (Thanks for the questions!)

1\. How old are they?

2\. Is Selene leaving too?

3\. Will there be a villain?

1\. As mentioned in the first chapter from Selene's point of view, Selene is 19 and Kai is 21.

2\. I'm not quite sure specifically, what you're asking, but I'll try to answer. As you've seen in the past chapter, Channary is leaving the Eastern Commonwealth (which everyone is happy about, really.). However, Selene will not be following her mother back to Luna... Quite yet.

, there will be an eventual villain, but she/he won't appear in the story until about 75%of the way through. The first 75% of the story will be centered on how Kai and Selene's relationship develops. I already know how the story is going to end, and I think that the last 25% of the story will be more airtight plot wise than these first few chapters, so you'll have something to look forward to.

I hope I answered your questions to your satisfaction, Color565!

The next chapter may not be up for a while, since I'm planning to make it lengthy. Hang in there, guys!


	10. Chapter 9: The Bang Before the Silence

The sun beat down on the glossed roof of the palace, unrelentingly doing its best to burn the wax off.

Emperor Rikan stood outside the palace, surveying the layout of his palace guards for the upcoming event. Men and women of all ages marched to their positions on the cobbled square in front of the palace, standing at attention for orders and commands, and the sun beat off of their red uniforms.

Rikan couldn't help but notice that it was a beautiful day. The sun was out, the humidity was at a low enough level that no one's hair was exploding out of their skulls in frizzy waves, and the flower vines crawling up the pole structure and walls of the royal abode seemed to burst and bloom more than usual.

Or maybe that was just his reaction to Queen Channary's departure from his country. The queen hadn't officially left yet; that would happen in an hour. Rikan just hoped that nothing would go wrong in the 3600 seconds that they had left (Rikan's mind had a way of nervously converting all time to seconds when he was stressed; it reminded him of how utterly fleeting time was).

It had been an exhausting half month with the Lunars. Channary's demands and her Lunar gift had kept him on edge, determined to defy her the next time she attempted to manipulate him, but every time she turned her eyes on him, his grip on reality slipped.

He didn't quite loathe Channary; in the many meetings he had spent with her, her personality had been more child than adult. That had been frustrating, but it led him to conclude that perhaps her acting as a child caused him to see her as a child. That had significantly lessened his fear of her.

And her daughter— he had spent brief moments alone with the princess, and in those few moments, he realized she was nothing, truly, like her mother. Princess Selene displayed an aura of maturity that her mother never enunciated (if she had one at all), and she seemed shyer than her mother, although she answered all of his questions calmly and firmly.

He quite liked the crown princess. She had all the makings of a true queen— dignity, leadership skills, and the ability to be able to stand up and speak out against something if she recognized that it was wrong. The other night at the banquet, he had been shocked by the queen and her actions. But he had been even more impressed by Selene's efforts to bring the servant back.

It made him less worried about the type of woman his son could very possibly marry.

Rikan nodded his approval of the guard layout to Deshal Huy, who was standing nearby. Huy shouted out a command, and the guards immediately made their way inside the palace again, in single file. Rikan trailed after them, and climbed the two flights of stairs to his office, preferring the exercise over the high speed transport.

Pulling open the cherry wood doors of his office (and wincing at the sudden shot of pain through his arm that reminded him that he was no longer 20 and lifting weights), Rikan immediately made his way to his chair and sank down into it. Closing his eyes, he sighed and thought back to what he had been considering in the square.

The possibility of his son marrying the crown princess of Luna.

Rikan didn't want to say yes. Kai was 21; Rikan had been 27 himself when he had married Kai's mother, the daughter of his father's chief advisor. He had been given the choice to marry, as long as he could name a suitable heir if he didn't produce any children of his own. He had been given a chance to choose his own path, his own life, his own love. And he had loved his wife. Immensely.

Kai would never get that chance.

On the other hand, Rikan mused, he had noticed that Kai and Selene had been spending some time together, in the garden the first day that Channary had arrived, occasionally nodding to each other in the hallways, and one of his cabinet members had told him that he had heard Kai and Selene talking in the library. And although he had been unsure about Selene and Kai alone with each other in the garden, after a few sitdowns with Selene, it became obvious that she wouldn't try to manipulate Kai. If they were truly to marry each other, perhaps they would fare better than Rikan was predicting.

There was a tap at the door, and then a sleek android entered. "Your Majesty," an automated voice announced. Lising, his android. "Tashmi Priya has commanded me to remind you that you must be dressed for the departure of Her Majesty the Queen of Luna, Queen Channary in forty-five minutes and that you must be in the Palace Square by 4:00PM, 16:00 military time, 4:00 PM Eastern Commonwealth time."

"Thank you, Lising."

All Rikan could hope for was that in the 1920 seconds they had left, nothing major would happen.

Selene sat on her chair in her bedroom (her temporary one, for eight months, at least), focusing on her tutor's words. Or, trying to.

She couldn't help mentally relishing the fact that she had triumphed over her mother in the Catherine debacle. She had received Catherine from the ship after leaving her mother, finding that the poor teenager had shrunk herself into the corner of her prison, shaking and shuddering. Her face had been turned away from the meager light that still shone though the bars of her cage, food barely touched. When Selene had opened the door, Catherine hadn't even looked up, although Selene had noticed that her shaking had intensified distinctly. She had leaned forward tentatively, and whispered softly, "Catherine?"

The shaking had stopped, but just for a moment. Selene took advantage of his and reached for Catherine's shoulder, gently rolling her to face Selene.

Catherine had struck Selene as rather plain in the garden the first day she had arrived in the Commonwealth, but Catherine was plain in the way that Selene was beautiful; it was the first thing people noticed about you, but the last thing people considered after speaking to you. Catherine had been respectful and open to Selene, and that had been what Selene had liked about her. Someone to consider Selene someone normal. Ordinary.

But this Catherine had been locked up and self-deprived of food and supplies, and her face had grown ashen and pale at the same time, her dark hair tangled and clumped. She was still dressed in her palace outfit, which was now crumpled and wrinkled beyond ironing.

Catherine's eyes squinted into the light, obviously adjusting to the light after being swathed in darkness for so long. Upon recognizing who had talked to her, she whimpered and shrank back again.

"Catherine," Selene had whispered gently, trying not to frighten her more than she already was. "I'm not here to punish you, I'm here to take you back to the palace. Off this ship, okay?"

"Off— off— off the sh—ship?" Catherine's words came in choppy stutters and whispers, but Selene built on it. "Yes," she whispered gently. "off the ship, back to the palace, where you'll reunite with your friends and there'll be no more fear for you."

Selene reached for Catherine's arms, pulling her up. Catherine's legs seemed to have lost control of their muscles over the week that she had been locked up, which led to her collasping on the floor again. Catherine began to sob, and Selene felt utterly helpless.

Catherine would have never survived on Luna; Selene had seen first hand how Lunar families treated their "pets," usually lower servants or criminals who chose servitude in Lunar households rather than face the death penalty. They were used for "target practice" usually by the youngest member of the family, who would practice their glamour on the servant, causing them to see something that wasn't there— bugs crawling out of skin pores, poison slipping slowly into inner organs, and a million other mirages.

If Catherine had thought this was hard, she would have died the moment she set foot on Luna.

Selene knelt down, sweeping her long dress behind her. "Catherine," she whispered, face level with the girl's own. "We must leave now— well, if we want to avoid any complications with the Lunar guards— but I assure you, I have official permission from my mother to take you out of this horrid cage." Selene hastily reassured the girl, but Catherine only whimpered.

"What will they say about me if I go back to the palace?" Catherine lifted her tear-streaked face every so slightly to look at Selene. Of course. The cooks, the guards, the servants. Selene knew well enough from her own experience with the Lunar servants that even if you threatened them with unemployment or even prison, _they would still talk._ And once word got out that Catherine had spent an entire week on a _Lunar_ ship with _Lunar_ guards, no one would ever want to be near her ever again.

Selene thought quickly. "Catherine, do you trust me?"

"T-trust you?"

"Yes, do you trust me?"

Catherine's voice wobbled, but she said, "I- I trust you."

"Good. Alright, Catherine, this is what's going to happen— I'm going to take you back to the palace. You will not have to go down to the kitchens or any gathering rooms of the palace employees of any sort unless you choose to. I will have people go and retrieve your belongings from your room, and if you wish to stay at the palace, you may become my personal maid— at your own consent, of course."

Catherine sniffled, and her tone was uneasy as she replied. "Yes, Your Highness, I would enjoy being your maid very much."

Selene smiled gently at her. "That's settled then. Come now, Catherine. We must leave now if we are to appoint you to your new post."

Selene had felt so happy, so utterly triumphant at managing to—

"Selene!" Selena's head snapped up from her book, into the slightly exasperated expression of her tutor (and head thaumaturge) Elissa Heliore. "Selene, are you even trying to pay attention?"  
Elissa was like an older sister to Selene. She was only a couple of years older than her, in her mid-twenties. Elissa had graduated at the top of her class, scoring the highest score on the final exam than anyone else in history. Within an hour of Head Thaumaturge Liam Orta's retirement announcement, Elissa had been promptly appointed his successor. She had mentored Selene since she was 18 and Selene was 12. In those seven years, Elissa had taught Selene how to use her powers properly while also training her in the "art" of using and resisting bioelectricity. "Should the need ever arise," Elissa had said.

But despite all of their history together, it had never stopped Elissa from looking like she had now— slightly pissed that Selene wasn't quite paying any attention to what she was saying. Selene smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. I was just thinking about something that happened a couple of hours ago."

Elissa sat down in one of the chairs that faced Selene. The long sleeves of her jacket draped over the armrests, covering them in white cloth. "You don't have to be so secretive about it. I am the queen's closest advisor. I know a few things that involve you and her majesty."

"So you know about Catherine, then?"

Elissa sighed. "Yes."

"Then why didn't you help me convince my mother to let her out of that cage?" Selene heard her own words and almost winced at how razor-sharp they were. Nevertheless, she kept pushing. "Catherine was _starving_ in there! She was scared to death, and—"

"—and it is none of our business to meddle in the queen's affairs," Elissa snapped back. "Her majesty's word is final, and you risked a great deal by going to ask her for permission to release the girl."

"But it was worth it! It was worth it to save the life of someone who would otherwise be gone and probably dead. If Catherine had gone to Luna, she would have been thrown in prison or worse, sent to a Lunar household." Selene shook her head. "You're not usually like this, Eliss. You usually understand why I do things." Selene's voice became bitter as she continued. "You usually see my side over everyone else's, you usually _support_ me better than anyone else!"

Elissa curled her sleek long hair around one of her fingers. She was smaller than Selene, petite and fragile, but she made up for that with her polished looks and headstrong attitude. It was true that she usually backed Selene up on her arguments, but this time she hadn't, and that was what mystified Selene. Not her anger, not her cutting words. The fact that one of her oldest friends hadn't seen her side.

Selene realized that Elissa still hadn't answered. The regular Elissa would have snapped back and thrown herself headfirst in the argument, needing less than a minute to refute her opponent. But Elissa hadn't even opened her mouth to say anything.

"Elissa? Are you—" Selene started forward, laying a hand on her mentor's hand, but Elissa flinched and shrugged it off. "I'm fine," she snapped. "Selene, we've only got a few minutes before our lesson ends and you have to go get ready for her majesty's departure. Let's focus on your glamour right now, and if you really want to continue our argument, you are welcome to find me after your mother departs."

Selene nodded. "Consider it done."

The faintest twinge of a smile showed on Elissa's face, and she nodded at Selene." Start with your visible glamour first."

Selene took a breath and fought the urge to close her eyes to focus. Instead, she let the power flow slowly out of her, pretending that it was covering her body in a sheen of glitter and sparkle. Elissa nodded her approval. "Good. You're getting the hang of a heavier glamour. Now try to convince me to do something."

Selene screwed her face into what must have been a gross expression, but it was necessary. Usually Selene practiced on one of the servants in the Lunar palace (and she always felt guilty about it, but they all insisted that they didn't mind and that Selene was so gentle with their minds, they could barely feel anything), but since there was a shortage of those in the EC's palace and both Selene and Elissa absolutely refused to pull a random Earthen servant to practice on, Elissa was volunteering herself for Selene's lessons instead. Trying to control a thaumaturge was the hardest challenge of all (besides maybe the queen or king), especially Elissa, whose mind had a tendency to wander about and resist against Selene (as she was supposed to).

Selene tried to do the same thing she had with her visual glamour, to pour her ability out of her, but influencing someone else to force them to do something was not the same.

 _Rise out of your chair,_ Selene projected her thoughts. _Rise, and walk to the window closest to the front of the palace and open it._

She could feel Elissa straining against her, and Selene tried to block it out as gently as she could, but Elissa's mind was stronger than hers, much stronger and tougher due to her many years of experience. And even then, Selene could tell Elissa was going easy on her.

And then, to Selene's shock and surprise, Elissa rose. She hesitated for a moment, but it seemed to be more about which of the three windows in the room to choose rather than to defy Selene's influence. In the end, though, she found the right window and she slid the panel to the other side and locked it in place with a click. Then, she stepped away, looking dazed. She looked back at Selene.

"Congrats, Sel," Elissa said with a gentle smile. "You did it."

Selene scoffed as Elissa reversed her previous action, sliding the window panel closed." You were going easy on me. I could feel it."

"Of course I was. If I hadn't, did you really think you could actually glamour me?" Elissa replied cockily, and Selene laughed. "So much for modesty."

Before Elissa could open her mouth to reply, there was a knock at the door."It's open!" Selene called. The door swung open to reveal Jacin, who was already dressed in his official palace uniform. His stiff posture relaxed when he realized it was only Selene and Elissa in the room. "Leonard Callenti told me to tell you that he needed you for your royal fitting," Jacin addressed Selene, rolling his eyes at the words "royal fitting."

Selene had made up her mind that forgiving Jacin for not supporting her with Catherine was the right thing to do. After all, she knew how much of a tantrum her mother could throw if she found that one of her closest guards was conspiring with her suddenly rebellious daughter.

"I'll be right there," Selene promised, at the same time that Elissa snorted, "Jacin, your enthusiasm is _greatly_ appreciated, as _always._ Where would we be without you?"

Selene giggled and Jacin rolled his eyes once more. "With an even lazier guard, I suppose."

Elissa, in addition to being Selene's close friend and usual confidante, also held an honorary position in what Winter liked to call, "The Group," or a "group" (hence the creative name) consisting of Winter, Selene, Jacin, and Elissa. They were all close with each other, and for Winter, they were her only friends, which made it even more special for Elissa to be inducted into this high-class gathering.

As Jacin and Elissa finished their daily banter, Selene shuffled away her books and went to follow Jacin, nodding her goodbye to Elissa. "Walk me to the dressing room?" Jacin raised an eyebrow and accompanied her out of the room, walking alongside her.

"Have you heard from Winter recently?" Selene asked, keeping her voice carefully low. She saw Jacin's jaw tighten. "Not since we left, no."

Selene turned to face him and she laid a hand on his shoulder, stopping them both. "I can get you a call with her," Selene offered. "I want to talk to her too, you know. And Elissa probably, too. She'll want to check up on how Winter's doing."

Jacin nodded. "Thanks, but I need to focus on protecting you and Elissa and whoever else needs my goddamn protection." His tone had turned to an unhappy rant as he continued his stroll. Selene caught up to him, and this time she put herself in front of him, stopping him fully. "Jacin, we both know how much you care about Winter. Aces, the whole palace knows. Stop acting like you need to pretend that you don't care about her. It's okay to care about some people, Jacin. It's normal to... to love someone."

Jacin glanced down at her. The look on his face said everything Selene needed to know, and she clapped him on the back. "Great talk, Jace. I'll ask Eliss when she can squeeze us in to talk, and everything's going to smooth out all by itself!" She paused. "But we're kind of late for the dress fitting, and you know how cranky Leo gets when people are late, so we should probably go..."

Kai resisted the maddening urge to loosen the collar of his suit (honestly though? He had half a mind to march into Tashmi Priya's office and fullheartedly throw himself into an argument with her over loosening dress collars. The crown prince of the Eastern Commonwealth already had enough problems. He didn't need to die suffocating in bright view of the gleeful sun in the midst of what scientists had reported was the hottest summer of the century.) as he followed his father out to the palace square, out into the stifling heat. Outside, guards were already lined up in formation for an honorable send-off for the Queen.

In the middle of the square was the large ship that Channary had first arrived in, and as it was on the day that he had first seen it, guards flanked the ramp, waiting for the Queen. Kai could feel his father's stance, tense and stiff. Beads of sweat dripped down Kai's own neck, although it was more from the heat than pressure.

The whole square was silent. The royal publicity managers had sent out a PSA to the people saying that due to going-ons at the palace, no one was to enter or get as close as the palace gates the day of Channary's leaving. Businesses had taken a holiday, and everyone stayed in. The streets of New Beijing, for the first time that Kai could remember, we're silent.

After countless eons of waiting, the grand queen herself finally made an appearance, along with her usual party: Head Thaumaturge Elissa Heliore, several other high-ranking thaumaturges, several royal guards, servants, and... Selene. (Kai had no idea why he had mentally said her name with a pronounced delicate tone.)

The queen wore (or perhaps it was a glamour) a full-length canary yellow dress that clung to her body like it was glued on. Her smile was as sticky sweet as ever, as she walked up to Kai and his father. "Thank you _so_ much for your hospitality," she said, curtsying in front of Rikan, who replied with a bow. "It was my pleasure, your majesty."

"Yes, yes. Well, I do hope that my daughter and my head thaumaturge will enjoy their time here. I look forward to securing an alliance with you sometime in the future, my dear Emperor Rikan." She turned to Kai. "Prince Kai..." She began, her voice sweet and smooth, but even though her voice was its natural tone, Kai tensed out of habit.

Channary's veil covered up a smirk that Kai could see, just barely visible. Kai resisted the urge to clench his fists.

"It has been a pleasure meeting you, Prince Kai." Channary purred. "You seem like a fine young man. Best of wishes to you in the future." Channary shot Rikan and Kai a final sugary smile and made her way towards the royal ship, followed by 3/4 of the guards that had accompanied the Lunars to the Commonwealth at first. The last fourth stayed with Head Thaumaturge Heliore and Selene, and Kai noticed that the blond guard, Jacin, had stayed back as well.

The queen did not hesitate in her swift, quick, movements walking up the ramp of the ship, and moments after, the engine roared to life, causing everyone in the square to step back. There was barely a moment of hesitation between the engines coming to life before the ship took off completely, leaving the palace square (and several bemused first-time EC guards) as if it had never been there in the first place.

Kai heard Deshal Huy call out something to the guards, who instantly gathered until single file lines heading back into the palace. Huy, Torin, and Rikan followed. Kai made to follow suit, but he just so happened to turn his head and he caught a glimpse of Princess Selene,who was in deep conversation with Elissa Heliore.

Something stirred in Kai's chest, and before he knew it he was racing forward, striding across the square, towards Selene.

"You should be careful. The queen has left, perhaps you should—"

"—I'll be fine, you don't have to worry. And besides—"

"Hey." Kai didn't realize how rudely he had interrupted (or how sneakily he had snuck up behind Selene and Elissa Heliore) until the head thaumaturge shot him a scandalized look. But Selene merely turned around to look at him, and her lips curved into a hesitant smile. Turning back towards the thaumaturge, she told her, "Liss, can we talk about this later?"

Elissa Heliore looked like she would rather swallow a bucket of hot sauce (did they have those on Luna?) than leave Selene alone with Kai, but she curtsied and walked away, the rest of the guards following her. And then Kai was alone with Selene.

"So... " Kai trailed off. There had been absolutely no logic involved in his spurt of the moment meet up with the crown princess of Luna, but hey, here they were.

Selene laughed. As usual, she was wearing something that was much more casual than what her mother had worn. She was wearing a knee length dress, with a white lace top that was drawn in at her waist only to billow out into a navy blue skirt with the a flower pattern. A thick tan belt was wrapped around waist as well. A pair of flats with navy blue and white stripes completed the look, along with Selene's natural chesnut curls.

Not that Kai was solely focusing on her clothes.

"Oh, that's always a great way to start of a conversation." Selene grinned. She seemed happier today, Kai reflected. Perhaps it was her mother's departure.

Kai scrambled for a response while the two of them made their way, ducking under vines and ivy, towards the palace garden where they had first met. "Uh... It's like a hundred degrees out here. Aren't you hot?"

Selene raised her eyebrows and tilted her head to the side. "Well, I'm not really the vain type as to judge myself. Also, that's a very questionable thing to ask the visiting princess of Luna,don't you think?"

Kai felt his ears redden. "Stars. I didn't mean to ask you— I meant—"

"From one royal to another, never phrase that question that specific way ever again." Selene chuckled again. "But to answer your question, yes, I am dying of heatstroke like everyone else in this palace. Aces, how do you even deal with this kind of supernatural torture?"

It was Kai's turn to laugh. "When you're born here, you get used to it. The heat and the mosquitoes. They're like my best friends."

"Hmph. Well, Luna doesn't really have a climate. Everything is determined by our scientists. It's usually sunny, unless the scientists are going on strike. It prevents pollution though." She paused. "The climate, I mean. Not the scientists."

"Thats one of the perks of living on Earth, though. Come for the weather,stay for the pollution." Kai grinned at her.

"And the scenery," mused Selene thoughtfully. "it's beautiful here, you know. All natural trees and sky and stars and _everything."_

"Yeah." The pair walked in silence until they reached the garden's west entrance, which was guarded by an elaborate gate. Kai kneeled in front of the gate.

"What are you doing?" Selene craned her neck to peer at him.

"The gate's locked," Kai replied. "There are four entrances to the garden— one from the palace, which is the entrance we first used when you visited the first time— that's the south entrance; one from the shed further away, which is the north entrance, the east entrance, which is also connected to the palace, and this entrance, which is the west entrance. It's locked, but my mother always kept a key hidden under the dirt... Oh, here it is." Kai produced a long brass key from the hole he had dug, which he showed off proudly to Selene. "It's one of the only thing things that I have left of my mom," he explained.

Kai inserted the key into the keyhole, which clicked the moment the key was turned. The gate swung open, and Kai and Selene found themselves in the royal garden once more.

 **Yay! 4500 words! That was twice as long as the chapter before. See, I live up to my promises.**

 **So now Channary is gone, which I know a lot of you are liking. I didn't really like her departure scene though, for me, it was rushed because I didn't know what I could add. I just wanted to emphasize that she wanted to get the hell out of there. But oh well. Now we can focus on Kaider!**

 **And writing the name "Jace" made a huge burst of adrenaline and a whole wave of goosebumps attack me. Clace forever.**

 **Because she's my original creation, Elissa is probably my favorite character right now. I have a lot of things planned for her.**

 **I'll try to have the next chapter up, but I need to fix some stuff first. And write the next chapter.**

 **PS: Is anyone using SwiftKey Keyboard? I just downloaded it and it's like a huge thorn(e) in my side. It's so aggressively intent on fixing my "spelling errors" even when I have none. Ugghhhh. I'm thinking about uninstalling, but the keyboard design is just too cute. And Google Keyboard freezes too often.**


	11. Chapter 10: Best Kept Secret

Elissa Heliore put down the glass of whiskey she had been holding, setting it down on the table. She was in her own quarters, a quaint little room next to Princess Selene's. It was less lavishly furnished (although she knew she could call for a servant to bring whatever she wanted to "jazz" up the already cozy space. The walls deviated from the standard Commonwealth red and gold, and it was instead a light mint color that Elissa rather enjoyed. The bed was not canopied liked Selene's was; it was a simple white bed with a cherry wood headboard that occupied the middle of the room. There were windows on two sides and a fire crackling in the fireplace, along with a large desk (that was already cluttered with papers from the complicated treaties and alliances and peace notes that had been written and given to secure such a visit from the Lunar monarchy). When Elissa had first moved in, she had noticed a little round table that had been pushed to the side, and instead of letting it gather dust, she moved it in front of the window, and pulled a chair over so that she might watch the beautiful sun set during the hours she had to spare.

All in all, it was a very nice room. But it wasn't home.

Glancing back at the glass of alcohol, Elissa pushed the frosty cup and the bottle to the edge of the small table and perched herself onto the chair facing the window. She stared at the golden sun peeking through the trees, and wondered to herself why her own people didn't enjoy things like the sunset. Granted, it had been her first time witnessing such a thing, but then again, it was her first time on Earth. Luna had an almost tropical climate, with temperatures just hot enough and just cold enough. Luna was utopian beautiful, but Earth was the stuff of starry-eyed romantics who dreamed about simultaneously living life on the edge and living their own love story. Simply put, Earth was beautiful in a way that Luna could never be.

But Elissa had another concern- she was afraid that in the same way she was captivated, Selene would be whisked away by the Eartherns as well. It was a slightly overimagined fear, but one to consider nevertheless. Elissa had seen the way that Selene looked at Kai and Kai looked at Selene. It was a look she knew too well.

"Ah!" Elissa felt a pain shooting up her lower abdomen. Gripping her midsection, she attempted to raise herself out of the chair, before she crashed down again. Trying not to scream, Elissa tried once more to rise from the seat, and plowed into the seat harder than she had before. The chair had no cushion, and Elissa felt her entire body aching. Elissa leaned back into the back of the wooden chair.

"Damn," she hissed.

"Thaumaturge?" Elissa heard the door to her room swing open. Elissa struggled to turn, before she heard the same footsteps rush to her, and she became face-to-face with features she was already very accustomed to."Aiden, what are you doing here?"

Aiden Acer was a handsome man in his late twenties, with a sharp, pronounced stubbled jaw. He had kind hazel eyes, with a dash of neatly parted blonde-brown hair. He was the head of the intermost team of palace guards, the guards that protected the royal family.

"Team was sweeping the princess's room next door. Heard you yell. You're not exactly quiet, you know." Aiden's eyes crinkled into a smile. Elissa let out a breath. "About that..." She lifted her arms out to him. "Can you help me up? I'm not- I'm not feeling too well."

Aiden's smile faded, and he leaned in closer. "Is it because of-"

Elissa pursed her lips together. "Just help me to the bed, okay?"

Aiden nodded, and he swept Elissa up into his arms, laughing at her slightly startled expression. Setting her down on the bed, he sat down next to her, the combined weight causing the bed to sink down. Elissa pressed her hand into the mattress, trying to find a solid surface again.

The sharp pain in her lower abdomen had spread, and Elissa breathed shallowly as she felt her lungs being set on fire when Aiden wrapped his arms around her waist and gently pushed her back onto the center of the bed. She clutched him this time, and Aiden noticed, wrapping his arms more securely around her waist.

"Elissa, don't stall me this time." Aiden positioned himself so that his face was just a few inches away from hers. "Is this because of-"

"-don't say it, Aiden. Anyone could be listening." Elissa breathed out shallowly again. "But yes."

Aiden's eyebrows crinkled together. "Eliss, maybe you shouldn't be doing this, what if you get hurt?"

"Don't you think I know that? I can do this." Elissa looked up at him. "I can handle it. I just don't want Selene or even Jacin to get hurt here. Who knows what could happen?"

Aiden opened his mouth, then closed it. It was silent for a moment, an hour, Elissa couldn't tell. Then he leaned down and pressed his lips against Elissa's. Elissa lifted her arms, wrapping them around Aiden's neck, and kissing him back with as much strength she could muster (which, considering the condition she was already in, did not amount to much). When they broke apart, Aiden rested his forehead on hers and released a breath. "I just don't want you to get hurt. Stars knows what we would do without you bossing everyone around."

Elissa would have slapped him under normal circumstances, but she was too tired and sapped of energy to, so she simply managed a weak smile. "You'd probably fall into chaos without me."

"I love you," Aiden said suddenly. "I love you, Elissa Aeliana Heliore. I love you, and if I have to spend one more second pretending like I don't, or if I have to spend one more second trying to ignore the fact that you could very well get hurt on this trip, I swear I might explode."

"Aiden, you know I have to do this." Elissa broke away from their embrace, straightening up and looking at Aiden. "I need to keep Selene safe, I need to... I need to keep the peace. I need to give a better world to all of the children and their children and those children's children. I want to give those people a safer world than the one we live in right now." She paused. "And I love you too, Aiden. Don't doubt that I do. I always have."

Aiden was about to respond when something beeped, and he reached for his pager. "They need me outside," he tells her. She nods. "Go, Aiden. I'll be fine."

Aiden looked uneasy at leaving her alone, but Elissa patted him. "Just go, Aiden."

"I'll see you soon," he promised. He gives her one last peck on the lips before he gently lied her down on the bed. Elissa was so tired she couldn't even manage to turn her head as the door closed.

Elissa presses her hand on the bed again, falling onto her back again. Groaning in frustration, she sinks back into her covers. Laying a hand on her midsection, she whispered," You better be worth this."

 **Sooo... Haven't updated in a while, I'm so sorry. I was just trying to enjoy my summer vacation.**

 **Most of you probably know what Elissa's "come down" with, but I wasn't exactly sure of the timing before now. You can probably figure that she's cutting it a little bit close. But hey, that's just me.**

 **This was a chapter that's going to be important in the long run. I was going to put it off until later, but I was sick of writing another Kai/Selene garden scene, so I decided to write an Elissa one. I know some of you don't like her, but hopefully this turned your mind around a little bit.**


	12. Chapter 11: The Garden, Part II

This time, Kai seemed more forthcoming with his love of his mother's garden. He talked about the types of flowers that grew there, the types of bushes that also grew and the medicinal effects of their leaves, and how sometimes he would snatch an apple right off the tree when no one was watching. Selene listened patiently, noticing the glint in Kai's eyes and wisely declining to interrupt.

"And these are our roses. My mother used to-" Kai broke off in the middle. "-oh, stars. I'm boring you, aren't I?"

Selene felt the corner of her lips dart up into a natural smile. "You never bore me, your highness. At least, not yet. Who knows? Maybe one day I could drag you to Luna and show you all of the flowers we have to offer. Maybe that would shut you up." Selene paused. She wasn't really sure if her relationship with Kai had developed to the point where she was allowed to tell the crown prince of the Eastern Commonwealth to shut up. "But really, I truly love your garden." Selene hastily corrected herself.

Kai laughed, and gestured for Selene to sit down next to him, on a stone bench that was surrounded by rose bushes. "This garden means a lot to me."

"I can tell."

"I just feel responsible for it. My mom, she would take me here almost every single day to teach me about the flowers."

"She sounds like a gentle person."

"She was." Kai paused. "She would've liked you."

Selene looked down. "Too bad I can't say the same for my mother and you."

Kai smiled. "Yeah, I'm not sure it works quite like that."

"Hmm." Selene murmured. "But I guess my mother and I had a good childhood together. Spending my childhood, I mean. She took me out to the bakery every week, to look at the pastries and the cakes and the different types of breads the people baked. The owner was always there- someone my family knew for decades. Her name was Cyra Lyanius." Kai was listening intently, hands folded in his lap, eyes focused on Selene's face. Selene realized suddenly how close they were, and instinctively, she leaned back a little, cheeks becoming hot. Kai leaned back as well, ears bright red.

He cleared his throat. "Um. . . go on?"

Selene afforded him a tentative smile. "Uh, yeah, sure, totally, um, where was I?"

"Cyra Lyanius."

"Oh, right. So every week, my mother would take me to see her. And for a while, without fail, she would always sneak me a piece of whatever cake was being taken out of the over. It was the best part of my week." Selene looked wistful.

"If you don't mind," Kai said. "You said, "For a while." What happened?"

Selene sighed and closed her eyes. "Four years ago, Cyra's son was conscripted to join the Lunar army. He refused, and they dragged him away. The entire Lyanius family was thrown into jail and their bakery was shut down. Most of them died. Cyra was one of the last ones left. I went to visit her once, and she looked at me and whispered, "This is a cruel world, Selene. They- they took my son. They took my sister, my husband, my father. They took them in spirit and in body, and they will try to take you next. But you are strong. You will make it. I cannot hold on.""

"Oh." Kai wasn't sure what to say. He knew what had happened, what had become of Cyra Lyanius.

"The guards found her hanging from a bent screw in the ceiling a week later."

"It wasn't your fault." Kai's first instinct was to tell Selene that, especially since she looked as if she was going to cry. "You couldn't have done-"

"-yes, I could have. We all do things we regret, but what about the things we don't do? We can regret those as much as the decisions we've already made, right?" Now Selene was actually crying, her voice becoming more shattered by the moment and her eyes beginning to turn a bright shade of red.

Without thinking, Kai reached over and wrapped his arms around Selene, leaning her against his chest. She shook against him, and he felt her tears staining his shirtfront. "It's. . . it's okay. It's not your fault, Selene, it really isn't. There's nothing you could have done, it's just. . . it's just how life works."

"I- I know. I- I- I just- I wish that- things could be diff-different." Selene let out one last sniff, and suddenly pulled away. Wiping at her face in a most unprincess-like way, she murmured, "Sorry. I'm a mess."

"Oh, it's okay." Kai replied, still tentative. "I don't mind. I mean, I'm okay with- I mean, I don't want you to be happy- I mean sad! I'm the real mess, um i-"

Selene let out a breathy laugh. "It's ok. really, I'm great."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Definitely."

Kai could feel the unresolved tension in the air. This was easily the most awkward thing he had ever been involved in. "Uhhhh. . . "

"Hmm?"

Kai didn't have anything to say, and he felt his palms getting sweaty as Selene's eyes remained fixed on him. Thankfully, Selene realized what was happening. "These roses," she said hastily, pointing to a myriad of bunched up roses behind the bench. "What were those planted for?"

Kai leaned over to peek at the scarlet buds. "My grandfather. My mother's father. When he died, she stayed in the garden for hours. She didn't let anyone in, not even my father."

"Oh."

Kai smiled. He could remember that day, bittersweet as it was. "After half the day was done, she came up to me and asked me to come into the garden. It turned out that she had spent the entire day planting flowers and vegetables in the garden. She sat me down on this bench, the one we're sitting on now, and she told me about how roses were for love and how they represented eternal devotion. But she also told me about how roses come naturally with thorns."

"And?"

"That even though love is beautiful, it hurts more than anything else in the world sometimes."

Selene leaned back and contemplated his words. "If love hurts so much, then is it really worth it?"

Kai looked down at the grass. "I don't know," he admitted. "Sometimes you don't want to feel the pain, but you can't stop loving forever. It's just not possible. Sometimes the pain is worth it if you truly want to love."

Selene opened her mouth to respond when a shout was heard from across the garden. "Kai! Kai!"

Kai shot to his feet, Selene trailing behind him. Running towards them was Konn Torin. His graying hair was in disarray, his clothes rumpled and wrinkled. "Oh, your highness," Torin said hurriedly, giving a shallow bow before grabbing Kai's wrist. "Kaito, we must go. I apologize, your highness."

"No prob-" Selene began to say, but Kai and Torin had already disappeared.

 **Sorry for not updating sooner! School's been really busy and I haven't gotten a chance to really write a lot. On the other hand, WINTER IS COMING OUT IN SEVEN DAYS!**

 **I'll try to update at least once a month, but I'm expecting that it won't be that easy. I have the story line written out, but writing is more difficult than it seems. I'm sorry if this chapter seems especially choppy, I just wanted to get this up as soon as possible.**


	13. Chapter 12: The Slow Spiral

**Hour 1**

News had spread furiously all throughout the palace as the sun of New Beijing slowly descended, the bruise-colored night sky creeping into the azure-gold atmosphere as if to mirror the current state of the palace. Servants and employees, although they were unaware of what the true emergency was, quietly saw to the needs of the politicians that were there. Windows were closed, conference connections secured, and water and tea brought back and forth from rooms to kitchens.

Catherine swept up her skirt, the tray of tea that she was holding balancing precariously on her arm. There was only ten minutes left in her shift, and she was anxious to hurry back to her new quarters. Princess Selene had been immensely kind to her, keeping her promises of a new job and new quarters. What the princess could not have forseen or stopped, however, was the amount of gossip from the other servants. Catherine felt their eyes on her every time she went down to the kitchen or down to the servant's parlor to fetch tea or towels.

Today had been her first day back from Channary's ship. Because she had been crammed into the tiny cell for such an extended period of time, her feet were sore and cramped, affecting her speed and giving her a limping gait. She hadn't expected everyone to tolerate her when she had gone to the kitchen to pour tea for Keal O'Pierce. Even so, she had never expected what she had gotten.

She had paused right before the kitchen on the steps leading to it, letting out a breath to rest her feet. Then she had heard distinct voices coming from the room, picking them out from the sounds of boiling water and roaring flames.

"So she was there? On the ship?" A horrified voice, low in tone but sweet. Teara, Catherine guessed. She remembered her, particularly because of her height. Teara, although younger than Catherine by two years, was at least five inches taller than her.

"Yes! And I heard that she ate their food and slept there! How do we know that she isn't-" the voice was lowered "- _hasn't_ been _poisoned_ by them?" The voice continued, matter-of-factly. "Besides, even if she wasn't- and I think that the chances of that are lower than me marrying Prince Kai-" (Laughter from the other servants in the room) "-I would send her out anyway. She's too much of a threat, isn't she? She's already been near them. They could manipulate her more easily. It's too risky."

Cat felt her face heat up. Of course. Only Fang Lin would say things like that behind people's backs. Fang Lin was the oldest serving girl in the kitchen, and if Cat wasn't more clueless about the men that ran to and fro from the basements, she would say that Fang Lin was the oldest of all the servants. Fang Lin wasn't even old; she was only in her mid-twenties. The problem with Fang Lin was that she was a (nicely put) bitch to work with. She wasn't rude or condescending; the problem was that she loved her gossip too much. She wasn't a bad person at heart; Cat knew that Fang Lin would stay late for the servants that were working late shifts and save some fried dough and condensed milk for them.

No. Cat's real problem with Fang Lin was that she constantly talked behind her colleague's backs about them. Whether it was about how Adriana, the new cook, had eloped with Beatrice, Advisor Konn Torin's maid, or about how Richard Tong, the young aspiring politician in Central New Beijing, had tried to coerce a maid into spending the night with him (and she had almost agreed), Fang Yin knew it all and said it all. And Cat couldn't stand it. It was no surprise to her that Fang Yin was the source of the gossip chain anyway. She had almost expected it.

"That's unfair." A voice rose up from the murmurs, and Cat felt her face redden. There was no true explanation that made sense to her about why her face was suddenly the color of the Commonwealth flag. It was just there. It was just happening.

"We shouldn't judge her just because she fell into some unfortunate problems." The voice continued, smoothly vehement. Cat knew who it was. She just didn't want to think about it. It was better if she didn't. "We don't know what she went through. She could have been tortured, starved, anything. Maybe we should have more compassion for her."

Fang Lin snorted. "So? She's still a danger. And besides, I heard that that princess herself brought her back. That just screams conspiracy. Besides, no one is going to listen to Catherine anymore. If she's thrown her lot in with them, she's dead to us."

Catherine couldn't help herself. Nearly tripping over the hem of her skirt in her rage, she had quickly regained her balance. Fang Lin's back had been facing the doorway, making her unaware to Catherine's presence, but the thirty or so other servants that had been crowded in there collectively shrunk back (save for one). Fang Lin whipped back, and her face had paled and then reddened.

"I'm glad you have your own version of what happened," said Catherine, her voice trembling with barely withheld anger. "But if you'll excuse me, all I came to do was to fetch the tea for Representative Keal O'Pierce." Cat made her way slowly to the back, where the dazed chef, his eyes flitting from Cat to Fang Yin and then back to Catherine, handed her the delicate silver platter. Equally as slow, Cat made her way back to the doorway, making sure to avoid eye contact with everyone, but one person in particular.

As she was just about to step out, Fang Lin called out, "Don't think that we don't know about your loyalties."

That did it for Catherine. Whirling back, her face was entirely red with rage and her entire body was shaking. (Later, to her surprise, she would realize that none of the tea had spilled, which made it all the more frightening.) Storming over to Fang Yin, she snapped, "If you wanted to judge me, you wouldn't have sneaked it behind my back like a coward." Whipping her head back, Catherine made her way out, the old wooden steps creaking haphazardly under her as she stalked upstairs.

But once she was in front of Keal O'Pierce's room, she felt only a weariness that shouldn't have been there. She should have been buzzed, filled with adrenaline. Wasn't that what anger did to you? Fill you up, drain you out, and then fill you up again? But her anger had been like an earthquake; rumbling fear drowning out the cries of the victims until the peak of the disaster collapsed everything in sight, silencing the protests. But however terrible an earthquake was, it was always fleeting. And typically, none followed after the previous. It was as if the Earth mirrored Catherine's emotions, rising and receding to match her moods. Or perhaps Catherine was at the will of the Earth, rising and falling with it.

Screw this. It was too much to handle, and Catherine shouldn't have even been upset. It wasn't as if they had been threatening to kill her, after all, was it? After everything that Selene had gone through for her, she could handle a little gossip. She was just glad to be alive. She just wished that the others knew that.

Trapping the tray by pressing her hand against the silver metal so that it was pressed into the wall, stuck between her palm and the brick, she used her free hand to smooth down the front of her outfit. Replacing the tray onto her arm, she was about to knock when she heard something that sent a chill down her bones.

"But that's the thing! Rikan is _dying_ , and his son isn't even prepared to receive the throne yet. We need to do something."

Catherine froze. She recognized the thick Irish accent of Keal O'Pierce. There must have been other people in the room as well, because she heard shuffling and murmuring. What did he mean? Emperor Rikan was dying?

 _Letumosis_ , Catherine realized with a jolt, almost causing her to drop the tray. It was the most likely. But if Emperor Rikan had caught letumosis from inside the palace, what did that mean for everyone else? Hastily recovering her balance, Catherine pressed her ear to the door (perhaps her anger had left remnants of recklessness).

More shuffling. More murmuring. Then, Chedelina Gare's upperclass English accent broke through. "Keal, I appreciate you calling this meeting to tell us about Emperor Rikan, but I still don't feel comfortable being here without at least Deshal Huy or Konn Torin. We are at the heart of the Eastern Commonwealth, and we are losing their trust, not to mention our own dignity, just by convening in secret here."

"But we're not convening in secret," O'Pierce pointed out. "The security tape is on. They could rewind and see us here. We're not hiding anything; we just want to figure out what exactly is happening with our current host. Whatever affects Rikan affects the Eastern Commonwealth, and whatever affects the Commonwealth affects us."

The deep voice of Jamal Nuy broke through. "Perhaps Chedelina is right, Keal. We should not stay in here long; Konn will be wondering where we are."

"But I'm on the same page you are, Keal," Trewett Litchfield's booming voice sounded almost comical as he attempted to whisper. "What are we going to do about Prince Kai?"

"If you're suggesting that we marry him off to some rich politician's daughter, I vote no." Samantha Williamson's straightforward voice broke through. "This isn't the First Era, Keal. We're a united democracy globally, whether you like it or not. There are some things you should accept as right and wrong."

"But it isn't wrong, necessarily," argued Litchfield. "It's for his own good. I've met the boy. There's nothing he wouldn't do for his Commonwealth. He would gladly engage himself to someone else if it meant that he could save his country."

"And what if it was your daughter that was forcefully betrothed to someone without a second thought, Trewett? Wouldn't you second-guess?" Gare's careful voice inturrupted. "I agree with Samantha on this one. I know Kai as well as any of you. I think that he has proven himself to be a capable young man with a clear plan on how to approach crises. I trust his decisions."

"He is twenty-one! None of us were just twenty-one when we were elected!" Litchfield made a move to slam his hand down on the table, but O'Pierce grabbed his wrist before it came down.

"Calm yourself, Trewett. We are still under the Commonwealth's hospitality."

Litchfield looked irritated, but he relented, drawing his hand back. "All right. Fine. What about Princess Selene?"

There was insurmountable silence from all of them. Then, Gare began hesitantly, "That was our original plan, Trewett. To betroth Prince Kai and Princess Selene. But in light of recent events, we were shocked. . . " she trailed off hesitantly, but Nuy picked up.

"We were put off by how difficult Queen Channary was."

Unwillingly, Catherine shuddered at the mere mention of Channary's name. She pressed her ear closer to the door. Murmurs of assent and agreement drifted around the room as Nuy's words settled in.

There was a sharp intake of breath from one of the representatives, and then, Keal O'Pierce spoke again. "But I've met the princess. She seems quite mature, and-"

Catherine lost her grip on the plate, and the tray clanged against the wall. Catherine dove for it, at the same time as the door opened and she was caught stumbling, desperately trying to balance the plate. Samantha Williamson stood in the doorway, looking puzzled as Catherine adjusted her clothes (once again). Face burning, Catherine stood straight up again, not daring to look too closely at Williamson. Demurely, she handed the tray over and timidly said, "Mr. O'Pierce requested some tea."

She didn't stay for a response.

Catherine couldn't speedwalk fast enough to escape the burning shame that was reflected on her poor face.

 **Hour 2**

When Kai heard, he couldn't even make it into the examination room. Instead, he collapsed onto the hard, pristine tiled floor outside of it. Hugging his knees, he rocked back and forth. "No," he mumbled, unconsciously moving his hands to his forehead. "No, this isn't happening. It's not real, this isn't-"

Torin watched Kai slowly break down, something stirring inside of him. Rikan was his oldest friend; he had known both Rikan and his wife and Kai all their lives. He had watched Kai grow up, even play babysitter for him when both of his parents were busy. This was a boy (and in Torin's eyes, Kai was still a boy) that he had taken care of for twenty-one years. But now, at this moment, when Kai needed him the most, he was unable to move.

Torin was the first to know. After Channary's departure, a servant had sprinted to him, panting out news of the emperor's collapse in his own study. Torin had rushed there, and it became apparent that he was the only one who had heard. No one else, not any of the officers or chairmen, had arrived yet. Torin had slowed his breathing down for a few seconds before turning to the servant.

"Do you know what he collapsed of?" Torin cursed his own mind as the sentence came out choppy and unclear. "Do you know what caused His Majesty to collapse?" Torin hastily rephrased.

The servant shook his head, his fingers trembling (out of fear, Torin guessed. He wasn't old enough to remember a time when the emperor wasn't eternally healthy). "I thought it might have been from the heat."

"No, that's unlikely. This room is air conditioned, and even if it broke down, the cool environment already trapped in this room would have remained for several hours." Torin's hand crept to his chin to scratch at it before he could remember that he had shaved just that morning. Sighing mostly out of frustration, he turned to the young servant. "Search the palace for Deshal Huy and the other board members. Enlist the help of some of your fellow servants if you must, but do not tell them about the emperor. Understand?"

The servant nodded. "Yes, Torin-daren." He scurried off, leaving Torin alone in the room. Even from his faraway point of view, Torin knew that something was wrong with the Emperor. He wasn't old enough to have serious health problems. He was only 50. Maybe it had something to do with the recent visits from Luna. It was as if Rikan had aged thirty years in a span of three weeks.

Torin had his suspicions about Rikan's sudden fainting spell. However, they weren't confirmed until he noticed the blue spot creeping its way down from under the Emperor's coat sleeve.

But that had been too long ago, it seemed. Now, standing in front of Kai, Rikan could only feel despair as he kept his eyes fixed on the crown prince. He wasn't sure what to do with Kai. Well, it wasn't so much as what to do as it was how to stop Kai from crying. Kai was the crown prince of the Eastern Commonwealth, and the title meant ten times more than it had three hours ago. Now more than ever, Kai was so close to the throne. Close enough to crown him emperor and end the whole thing.

But Kai couldn't very well rule from a fetal position on the floor. Hunching his shoulders forward, Torin walked over slowly to Kai. Placing his hands on his shoulders so that he could help Kai into a sitting position, Torin coaxed Kai's face up. Kai's eyes were already bloodshot and his cheeks a frightening mix of pale and red. It was like looking a sunburnt net-drama teen heartthrob.

Torin let out a subdued sigh. "Kai, please." His voice came out, weak and pleading. "I know this is hard, but your father- he's in there. He needs support, especially from you."

Kai stared at him, and Torin was suddenly seized with a sense of guilt. Kai looked a decade younger, his eyes wide with fear and distress, and his face plump with after-crying swelling. Kai looked like the young boy that Torin comforted, played with, and bandaged every time after knees were scraped.

How was it possible that this boy could grow up so fast in such a short period of time?

Finally Kai made a move to stand up. Stumbling slightly, he turned back to Torin. "I'm ready."

Torin looked at him, his own heart pounding with worry. "Kai, just be careful." As an afterthought, Torin fished out his handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to Kai. Kai managed a watery smile before he took it, smearing the delicate silk with his tears. (Torin made a mental note to handwash it later.) Handing it back to Torin, Kai sniffed one last time and opened the door into the stark white examination room.

Torin stuffed the handkerchief back into his pocket and followed, shutting the door gently behind him. Already Kai had headed to the middle of the room, where a glass wall separated both Kai and Torin from the letumosis-ridden emperor.

Rikan had been kept in bed, with an army of androids seeing to his every basic need. However, Torin couldn't imagine that the emperor could be comfortable, even with the reassurances that he would be cared for. Rikan's hospital bed and androids were surrounded by bulletproof reinforced glass, which were oxygen tight. The only way for air to come in or out was through a pipe attached to the ceiling light. All in all, it was a melancholy room, and Torin had decided that he would rather sit through eight straight board meeting than spend one hour in the examination room.

Rikan saw his son, and he smiled. "Kai," he said, and Torin noticed that the emperor's voice was still strong, despite his sickness. "Are you alright?"

Kai stared for a second, then looked down before answering. "I'm fine, but what about you?" He lifted his head again. "You're- you're-"

"-like an old man?" Rikan smiled again, and the hint of a mirroring smile was reflected on Kai's own face. "I might look like one, but I feel far from it, Kai."

"But you're sick."

"Yes, but the sickness can only separate us so far. When you were sick, I came to visit you everyday, didn't I?"

"Yes, but that was the common cold. This is- this is-" Kai's voice became slowly more breathy and raw, and Torin was afraid that he would break before the conversation even ended. "This is letumosis, Dad. No one comes out of it alive."

(It had been a long time since Torin had heard Kai refer to his father as "Dad." It only emphasized the omnipresent storm hanging over their heads in the examination room.)

"No one yet, Kai. " the emperor's voice was firm. "We are much luckier than some others, Kai. We are living in this palace, entitled to many more things than our lesser counterparts. We are living in an age of medicinal miracles. If there is an antidote, we will find it."

Torin noticed how the emperor deliberately left out his own prediction of his own fate.

Kai stared at something past Rikan before answering. "And what if an antidote isn't found before you-" Kai froze, closing his mouth abruptly.

"Before I die?" Rikan's voice was soft and fragile. Kai fixed his eyes on the emperor's, and Torin was suddenly struck by the resemblance between father and son. The soft eyes, the sharp chin, the strong jaw. There was too much shared between Kai and Rikan for Torin to truly picture them apart. Perhaps that was the true problem.

"Maybe I will die before the antidote is found, Kai. But that does not mean that there is not one out there. Even if it is found a second after my death, I will still be grateful that it was found. I am one person in a sea of almost eight billion afflicted with the same illness. If we can save eight billion people at the expense of one person, I would be willing to part with this world for the greater good."

 **Hour 3**

The weight of the oak door swung itself closed, the doorframe shaking ever so slightly at the burden.

Elissa backed away, reaching a hand up to brush a hair out of her eyes as she walked toward the balcony doors, pushing them closed as well. "You're sure about this?"

Aiden was still—almost too still. Yet there was a nervous energy surrounding him, and his next words were said with an undertone of tentativeness. "Yes. The Earthern Representatives have already called a meeting in the Northwest conference room."

Had it been any other time, Elissa would have teased him about his uncanny knowledge of the people of the palace. Unfortunately, it was far from that time. "How far along is the Emperor?"

"They're saying first stage, and almost to second when they found him, but the scientists are rushing to try to slow down the process. They're keeping the king in an almost airtight room, and no people are allowed in the room with him. Only androids, and they're keeping him fluid-loaded."

"He's too young to die." Elissa's words came out softer than usual, and even she was surprised at the contrast.

 _Thanks, pregnancy. I'm losing my edge already._

Aiden frowned, and Elissa knew that he was considering her words. "The sickness takes the innocent. We can't do anything."

"Can't we, Aiden? Isn't there a solution for every problem?" Elissa stepped closer, until she was staring up at Aiden's handsome features. He was tenser than usual, and she could see it in the way that his chin tightened up when she came close. His face turned slightly away from her, as if he couldn't bear to look at her.

Elissa reached up, her fingers grazing his stubbled jawline. It was enough to bring him back. He turned, and Elissa could see the hurt, the fear, the pain in his eyes, unbound and unbidden. He drew his own hand out of his pocket, and closed his fingers around Elissa's wrist, pulling her hand away from his face.

"What are we doing, Elissa?" Aiden whispered, running his calloused fingers against her softer knuckles. "You're here, I'm here, and we shouldn't be, and you're—"

"—don't," cautioned Elissa quietly. "It's not safe."

Aiden's fingers tighted around hers. "We should have stayed on Luna."

"And would things be better, Aiden? We'd face the same amount of strange looks and gossip that we have here."

"At least on Luna I know you're safe."

At this Elissa snorted. "That's not true. Say I get in the way of an execution. Say Selene accidentally tells me to do something outrageous during lessons. Say Channary wants someone to row her across Artemesia Lake and drive her into the regolith mines. Shit happens."

"But at least I know what we're dealing with!" Aiden drew back, his hand dropping hers. He wrung his hands in the air. "Liss, we are alone here. We have practically no jurisdiction here without violating the set treaties, and we're facing a pandemic that just so happens to be living downstairs. I think that merits some panic."

Elissa half-scowled. "Aiden, we're already here, and it doesn't matter what happens to us. As long as Selene returns home in one piece, everything will be alright."

"Will it?" The haunted look had come back into Aiden's hazel eyes. "If all goes to plan—and there are so many things that can go wrong—you'll return to Luna with barely a month to spare. Not to mention that we may or may not be marrying off our beloved little princess to the Commonwealth's teenage man crush, which leaves you studentless and a—" Aiden chose his words carefully. You could never be too careful trying to protect your own secrets. "—babysitter. What do you plan to do?"

"Teach a class. Maybe teach Channary. That'd be fun, don't you think?"

"You're dodging the question."

"Month to spare: find a class. Marrying Selene: that's out of my hands, and I think she'll be fine—" (Elissa was lying through her teeth already.) "—. Babysitting I can handle. Students: teach a class. I've got it covered, Aiden. Don't worry."

"This will come back to bite us in the ass."

"Don't be a pessimist. You're the optimist in this relationship, remember?"

"You know things are wrong when we switch our roles."

"Well, pessimism and optimism aren't really roles. They're states of the mind."

"Where did you learn that, Biology III?"

"Philosophy and Neuroscience 101, taught by Professor Elissa Heliore."

"Did anyone show up?"

"Now you're just being mean."

Aiden's smile faded. He didn't apologize, but he stepped forward and drew Elissa closer to him. Elissa felt him lean into the embrace and press his lips against her forehead. She reveled in the experience, a wave of heat and adrenaline rushing through her body. Stars, how could he make her feel like that even now, after so long?

When Aiden let go, he had returned to his normal Royal Guard stance, posture abnormally straight, eyes attentive, one hand resting on his gun. Elissa watched him go, his long legs propelling him to the doorway in a few long strides. Before he opened the door, however, he turned a quarter circle to look at Elissa briefly again.

"Please be safe, Liss."

 **Hour 4**

Selene was pissed. For the past four hours she had been snatched from the garden and marched upstairs with no explanation, not even from Jacin, who had been keeping a tight grip on her arm. She had been dumped unceremoniously into her room, and she knew for a fact that at least eight guards were standing outside her bedroom.

Fuming, Selene had had no choice but to stay put, trying to read but failing. Her mind was elsewhere; wandering. She didn't know what had occurred to warrant such a reaction from everyone. Even Jacin, the most level-headed person she knew, was almost shaking in his boots like a leaf in the wind. Elissa was nowhere to be seen and Selene was slowly losing her mind. Briefly, she wondered what Kai was doing.

What does it matter? Her inner voice snapped her back to reality.

"I don't know," Selene muttered out loud, leaning back on the headboard of her bed. The words on the page of her book seemed to blur together, resulting in a migraine that was painful enough to stop her from tormenting herself any longer. Snapping the book shut, she traced the engraved words on the front of the cover, the ridges and creases as familiar to her as her own glamour.

The book was an old one, a short story collection for children that Selene had had since she was a toddler. Prose and Poetry For Children. The name was as generic as they came, and the slightly damaged black and red cover seemed to add to the book's diminished glory. Despite its out-of-place antique veneer, the thin novel was Selene's most prized possession. It reminded her of her childhood and her life before the issues with her mother began, her life before she realized what she would be facing as a future queen.

It reminded her of innocence, something she wasn't sure if she had anymore.

Her favorite story in the book was one titled "The Princess and the Fisherman." She remembered reading it when she was barely four, sitting in the lap of one of her old nurses, Ivesha. Ivesha had been past elderly then; she was nearly ancient, but still she clung onto her job. She had overseen three generations of Blackburns, and Selene was no problem for her. Ivesha could easily lure toddler Selene back into her crib simply by waving a small rattle in the air (although Selene later realized that Ivesha was also a highly proficient user of her glamour and had probably enchanted Selene in some undetectable way).

Ivesha had been dead for a long time, and no one had read to Selene for nearly a decade.

Selene, however, never forgot. Since that day, Selene had been obsessively carrying around her worn copy of her childhood tales. She read them over and over again until she could recite every single word perfectly. She loved all of the stories of magic and hope, swirled together. It was with the lesser-known "Princess and Fisherman" that she found her solace, however.

 _And so the princess ran. She ran away from the castle, the thorns of the rough ground slicing her feet open, the grass flowing scarlet with her blood. She ran and she ran, until her legs and arms had been cut to the extent where she could no longer walk, much less move. 'Please,' she cried. 'Please.'_

 _And perhaps it was fate, in that very moment, that drew the young fisherman to his lover. He saw her from a distance, carrying his bounty home. Alas, if the fisherman had passed her by without a second thought, dismissing her as a shadow of his own mind, he would have saved his own life._

"Selene. Selene, wake up. Selene."

Bleary and disoriented, Selene's eyes fluttered open involuntarily. She hadn't realized that she had fallen asleep. "Whashappen?"

Elissa looked very motherly indeed, sitting at the edge of Selene's mattress like a sentinel. Her white thaumaturge coat was buttoned at the top, letting the rest flare out around her. Her fingers were nervously rubbing each other. Indeed, Elissa was behaving in a very. . . un-Elissa-like way.

"Nothing. You should rest. I didn't mean to wake you." Elissa quickly tucked Selene in, taking advantage of her groggy state to ease herself off of the bed without protest.

Selene let out a whine, and (using all of her effort) reached out to draw Elissa back in. "Eliss, just tell me," she mumbled. "Can't be nothing too bad."

Elissa stared at her for a moment, analyzing her. Selene felt like an eleven-year old again, Elissa's sudden scrutiny bordering patronizing. Finally, Elissa let out a breath and stared Selene in the eye. "Were you with Prince Kaito when Konn Torin went to go look for him?"

"Yeah, why?" Selene was suddenly struck with a sudden thought, and it shocked a pang into her chest. "Is Kai-"

"-no, not him." Elissa amended hastily. "Not Kaito."

"Then who?" Selene felt her fingers sweating puddles into her sheets, and her body was melting under the suddenly too-hot blanket. "Who. . . who's hurt?"

This time, Elissa wasted no time replying.

"Emperor Rikan."

 **Hour 5**

She stroked the soft fabric of the midnight blue dress, dotted with gold sequins and lace. Her fingers traced the low neckline, and she imagined herself wearing the gown, how nicely it would outline her figure. Plucking the hanger off of the rack, she set the piece down on her bed and reached for her jewelry next, selecting the larger chain of gold daisies over the slimmer silver roses. Yes, those would fit nicely.

She imagined herself dancing-with who, it didn't matter. Just as long as she was adored, and loved.

And she would make them adore her.

 **And that is the long awaited new chapter! I really hoped you liked it; all of you lovely people definitely deserved it after such a long time!**

 **Side note: When I was naming the Earthern representatives, I tried to come up with authentic names. For every character, really. But being the uncultured person I am, I couldn't. I didn't realize just how bothered I would be by names that I created that aren't culturally correct, such as Jamal Nuy. I think that that's a mistake involving stereotypes on my part, and I'm truly sorry for it. I'd be willing to change it if you guys don't feel comfortable. The most important thing for me to do, though, is to finish the story.**


	14. Chapter 13: Comfort

**A/N: Minor Cursing**

"You shouldn't be here."

Turning from his hunched position against the library desk, Kai nearly slammed his gangly frame into the person behind him. He caught a whiff of sugar and lilac, and a flash of mahogany curls. He turned back to the papers he was examining. "You know this is my library."

"Just because it happens to be your 'library' doesn't mean that you have to punish yourself by showing your constant dedication to it." He had barely flipped the page of the heavy textbook on herbs and cures before she had seated herself across from him, her own stack of books slammed onto the table. "But just in case you decided to go that route, I thought I'd come accompany you."

"Thank you for your concern, but I would just really like to be alone right now."

"It's probably not a good idea to be alone right now." Selene's voice had gone softer than usual, and Kai dared to sneak a look up at her face. Her brown doe eyes were wide with concern, and Kai felt a pang of resent. It wasn't her family. It was none of her business. And in fact, who had told her anyway?

Sharply, he rebutted, "You know, the more you make me disgruntled, the closer we are to quitting this whole alliance thing altogether, so if things go south, we'll all know who's fault it is."

The silence succeeding was heavy. Nevertheless, Kai continued to survey the entire room, anywhere but her. A sharp sigh drew him back to her sculpted visage.

"I'm sorry."

"He's my sick father, you know. It's none of your business." Kai lowered his head back down, but he couldn't resist continuing. "You know, you should probably leave, things are-"

"-I know how things are." Selene's voice had gone hard, cold in a matter of seconds. Her voice rose very suddenly. "I know what is happening. I know how you're feeling. I am trying to offer you comfort, Prince Kai." Her words were edged with steel, and it was suddenly painful for Kai to remain stoic. She continued, her voice nearly at a shout. "I've lost family too, Kai! I know what you're going through! And even if you don't want my comfort, at least don't treat me like a child. You don't get to tell me to leave, and you certainly don't get to order me around like a self-pitying douche. Grow up."

Kai risked a peek up, his heart pounding. Selene was half-standing, her palms pressed down hard on the wood grain. Her flawless features were flushed with various shades of scarlet, and her hair had been shook out of its coiffure.

At no other point in his life had Kai been so afraid.

She was the storm and the calm at the same time, blended together in a furious burst of sunlight and hope. It was painful to stare, but even more painful to look away. His gaze held hers evenly, copper-edged irises meeting solid chocolate ones.

At last, she looked away, straightening herself up completely. Sweeping her books off the desk once more, she barely spared him a glance as she strolled towards the door, walking rapidly towards the exit. "Good day, your highness."

"Wait!" Kai scrambled to his feet, and it was by sheer miracle (or by his long legs) that he managed to barricade the exit with his body before she made it there. "Wait, Selene, please."

She was less that two feet away from her escape, and less than a foot away from his face. She clutched her books to her chest, giving her the false appearance of a docile student. Kai highly doubted that she would hit him, political alliances and all, but he kept a tight grip on the door handle as a reassurance.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that, I. . ." The words trapped themselves in his throat as he looked into her eyes, the remaining patches of strawberry around her cheeks illuminating her defiant expression. She was radiating pure passion in that moment, anger and minor chagrin both contributing to her steely gaze.

"I'm sorry I said that. I just. . . it's difficult right now for me. . ." Kai faltered, and Selene moved again towards the door. "Wait! I just, I'm sorry, Selene, I-"

"You know, you've said 'I'm sorry' to me right now than I've said 'I'm sorry' in my entire life," Selene interrupted coldly. "Kai, I get it. I know why you're being distant. You don't have to explain."

Kai sighed, and carded his fingers through his dark hair. "Well," he started tentatively. He attempted a smile, although it obviously didn't thaw Selene's frozen visage. He made a quarter-turn, half-facing the library and half-facing Selene. "in that case, would you consider sitting down again?"

Selene merely stared at him, and Kai resisted the urge to slink back. Finally, she relented, stalking past him and slamming her books down. Kai winced at the sudden attack, but hurried towards the table. He dropped into his chair, avoiding eye contact with the princess. Stifling a yawn, he brushed a rogue hair out of his face and refocused his eyes back onto his reading.

Many variants can result in a nationwide anarchy. Factors such as environment and socioeconomic status may spur an individual to surge up against the government. Against all logic, citizens will always be dissatisfied with their representatives. In the past, however, it should be noted that the ultimate leaders are the ones that are the most likely to come under fire for actions often done by unruly politicians, despite having no hand in the matter. It is much easier to blame a king for a peasant's unhappiness than a peasant for a king's unhappiness.

It was awfully obvious to Kai that his textbook read like a pompous twelve-year-old trying to enter the world of politics. "It is much easier to blame a king for a peasant's unhappiness than a peasant for a king's unhappiness"? Wasn't that a given? Apparently not. The book had been published sometime in the Second Era. Perhaps the candidates back then had needed a reminder of how much the people hated them.

"You're making a face."

Kai's head snapped up, and his eyes met Selene's again. "Uh, yeah, I mean," he stammered. He exhaled, giggling slightly as he did. Selene's eyebrows knit together in evident perplexity. "It's just this book, I mean-"

"-can I see?" He shrugged, sliding the book across the table. As she read, Kai noticed the way that Selene seemed to become completely engrossed in the chapter, flipping pages as she went along. Her head seemed to slowly tilt more and more as her eyebrows were raised higher and higher, eventually culminating in a small "wow."

"That's a mouthful," Selene agreed, pushing the book back to Kai. She rested her elbows on the table, letting her face fall onto her upturned palms. "They actually force you to read that when you're heir?"

"Well, no. I had a tutor until I was eighteen, and he was the one who really taught me about policies and being fair to the citizens and stuff like that." Kai explained.

"Our system's like that too. Elissa's been my tutor for most of my life, and I don't think she's going to quit until she's absolutely sure I can go out into the world without accidentally burning everything in my path." Selene leaned forward even more, and Kai was astutely aware how close their faces were. He could just lean forward just a little more, close the gap-

"-so if you don't need to read it and you're obviously bored to death by it, why do you force yourself to?" Selene asked softly, her eyes still staring at his face, pensive.

"I don't know, I mean, there's nothing spe-" Kai stopped, and he flitted back to the worn pages of the heavy textbook. It was there that he finally saw the notes scribbled in the margin, the letters matching his spiky signatures perfectly.

His fingers froze, and he felt l himself slumping back and moving forward, simultaneously shocked and enthralled. Trembling, he ran his fingertips against the swirling ink, the coarseness of the paper prodding his skin. He was all too aware of Selene watching him, her sculpted eyebrows knitted together in obvious concern. He struggled to keep his eyes on the page, torn between facing the princess and reading the emperor's words.

Royalty, it seemed, would never leave Kai alone.

Rikan's words were hasty, probably jotted down in the few minutes before his lesson in order to prove that he had finished his work. Like father, like son. Kai had done his assignments hurriedly as well, and he almost smiled as he imagined a teenage version of his father attempting to talk his way out of lessons.

Follow the people, they know best.

Too large letters to fill the margins.

Is the EU a democracy? A monarchy? A parliamentary monarchy?

Mindless filler questions that Kai knew his father could answer on his first try.

But the last enter Kai met was starkly different from the others, and he held his breath as he reread it, over and over again.

It was a doodle of two stick figures, one with scribbled long hair and another with a tuft of equally messy hair defying gravity by standing straight up. Both were smiling and holding hands. Both wore cartoon crowns, the simple three-pointed ones. Rikan's same messy handwriting continued next to the picture.

Elaine. Elaine. Elaine. Elaine. Elaine.

Elaine. His mother's name.

The picture was dated February 8th, 107 T.E.

Two month before Kai's birthday.

He hadn't realized he was sobbing until he felt Selene's arms gently slip around his chest, and he was eased off of the chair and onto the floor, one hand gripping Selene's arm and the other his father's textbook. He took great gulping breaths, his tears falling fast. Selene's arms tightened around him, and her head pressed against his back. "It's okay," she mumbled. "Everything's going to be alright."

"He loved her," Kai whispered in response, his voice jagged. He didn't know how much Selene understood, and he couldn't stop all of the memories that sped back into his mind. His father, carrying him back to bed while his mother laughed at Kai's futile protests. His mother, teaching him about the difference between the different flowers in her garden, and how to tell clusters of snapdragons apart from lavender and hydrangeas. His mother, lying face up in her delicate shroud, while the fires slowly engulfed her small frame.

Rikan, his shaking almost invisible to everyone except Kai.

Selene clutched him to her chest, running her fingers against his. "The pain will pass."

He had run out of tears, letting the salty-bitter liquid drip down into his lap. In between heaving breaths, he turned to look at the princess. Her cold facade had completely crumbled, and she hadn't let go of him. Her eyes were agleam with something Kai could not identify.

"Will it?" He eked out, once his coughing had subsided.

She drew her lips together, folding the rosy halves into her mouth before she exhaled and answered. "No," she admitted, shaking her head. "It won't."

Kai didn't know how long they stayed that way, curled together on the wooden panels of the library floor, rocking back and forth.

 **In honor of my fantastic mood because B &N FINALLY DELIVERED LADY MIDNIGHT TO ME. **


	15. Chapter 14: Roaming New Beijing, Part I

**OKAY I KNOW I SUCK AT UPDATING I'M SO SORRY FOR THIS TWO MONTH GAP OH MY GOD**

 **THIS CHAPTER IS ALSO SHORT AF AND NOT PROOFREAD AT ALL BUT PLEASE BEAR WITH ME**

 **I'm starting vacation early (I'll be in Taiwan on the 17th) and I'll probably have time to write more over summer break. I wanted to give you guys at least an update before I delve into finals week so here it is! I'm so thankful for everyone that has kept with this story! Thank you for not giving up on me (even though I'm a lazy bum)!**

A/N: This chapter will feature cursing and minor content. However, I want to make you guys as happy as I can with continuing the story, so if any of it feels OOC, comment or PM me!

New Beijing was lit up by the slow, soft sunset of the disappearing sun. Barely past the horizon, it was still quite bright, although the many city citizens barely noticed the mundane event. To Selene, however, it was one of the wonders that she could barely turn away from. She came down the steps of the palace, pausing abruptly halfway. Kai watched, with barely concealed fondness (and amusement) as her jaw dropped slightly, her eyes widening as she stared at the golden-orange celestial body.

Kai didn't dare disturb the picture of serenity that stood before him, electing to gaze at Selene with (as any onlooker would notice) the same amount of admiration she was offering to the setting globe. He took his time, as she took hers, and noticed more and more details about the princess. He observed the dotted ridge of her nose, and the tiny baby hairs that refused to be corralled into tight hairstyles around the crown of her head. He flickered between her tight grip on her small pouch and the wanderlust in her eyes.

She reminded him of someone, but he couldn't place who.

"It's beautiful," Selene breathed, coming to her senses and (rather sheepishly) descending the rest of the stairs. "Does that happen every week?"

Kai chuckled. "Try every day."

"No." Selene turned to face him, eyes like saucers. "Really?"

"Really."

"Lucky," she sighed, as Kai guided her gently down the street. "We don't see the sun on Luna nearly as much. There's a 29 day period between our sunrises and our sunsets, and even then it's not nearly as beautiful as the ones you have on Earth."

"Well, now I know your weakness," Kai replied, feigning seriousness. "Sunsets. It's what we'll use to seduce you into staying here."

Selene let out one of her easy, airy laughs. "Elissa would probably kill you."

"Well, as long as we're talking about capital punishment, I think Torin and Elissa are going to decimate each other before they turn their deadly talents on us."

"Probably. I wouldn't put it past Elissa to go completely insane if she found out that our return to Luna might be delayed. She's stressed out as is."

"So is Torin. Have you seen his office? Looks like someone tried to play baseball with a team of monkeys and lost."

"It's very hard to imagine Torin greenlighting that idea."

"Eh, I don't know about that. I'd just sneak the entire monkey family into his office while he's sleeping and let them do the work."

Selene let out a mock gasp. "So it was you! The monkey culprit!"

Kai pushed his forehead back with his knuckles, masquerading as a distressed damsel of old. "Oh dear! Whatever shall I do? You have caught me, Your Highness! I beg for mercy!"

Selene let out a fit of laughter, and she waved a hand in a queenly gesture. "I am afraid I cannot let you go easily, Mister Kai. The destruction of palace property is not something that can be easily fixed."

Kai grinned. "And what if Mister Kai shows you the most amazing noodle shop in New Beijing?"

Selene's eyebrows raised, piqued interest shining through. Linking her elbow with his, she fluttered her eyebrows coquettishly, almost breaking down in the middle of her facade. "I'll consider it, Mister Kai."

Goddamit. God. Fucking. Dammit.

Stars above, had that girl no sense? Had she completely lost her logic?

Elissa stormed around, reaching for her crystal bottle of whiskey before remembering herself and sinking back into her couch, a low, frustrated groan escaping her lips. No relaxation, no books to read, no pointless net dramas, no alcohol available. But somehow, the gods above had seen fit to sent her pounds upon pounds of material to be annotated, highlighted, read, and reread by the end of the week. And in addition to the three thousand stacks of paperwork, someone up above controlling everything had pushed one person into the queen nineteen years ago, and a problematic princess had sprung from that equation.

Honestly, could someone just leave her alone?! For one fucking moment, could she just have a good night's sleep, a period of rest where she wasn't constantly chasing deadlines and meetings? If they weren't so awkward and cool to each other, Elissa would have asked Konn Torin how he had dealt with being a royal advisor and a babysitter to an equally rash heir.

Elissa leaned back as far as she could in the plush armchair, and although it was not officially a recliner, years of delegates staying in the same room had worn away the sharpness of the chair's legs, allowing her to push off the ground. She closed her eyes, the dryness and soreness becoming a recurring familiarity in her day-to-day rests (and lack thereof).

She tried in vain to relax her posture, even grudgingly reaching for her bottle of water (albeit glancing longingly at her bottle of whiskey) and downing half the canteen.

"Is this about Selene?"

Elissa's eyes snapped open, and her pocketknife was out before she realized who had spoken to her. Her cheeks burning at the lame weapon, she closed it. "Isn't everything nowadays?"

Aiden looked troubled by her answer. "Not everything." He reached out, tucking his arms around her smaller frame. Between them, they had a ten-inch height difference, but Elissa took advantage of it. She leaned into his broad chest, feeling the slow warmth spreading its way down to the tips of her toes. Aiden buried his nose carefully into her hair, mumbling into her scalp.

"I missed you."

Elissa broke away for a moment, placing her hands delicately on Aiden's shoulders. He looked back at her, eyebrows raised. Elissa reached up and threaded her fingers into his short hair, pulling her up on her tiptoes in order to kiss him. He responded in kind, kissing her passionately.

Elissa pushed a little towards him, moving the both of them around the room. As he realized that they were getting closer to the bed in the middle of the room, he stopped. Elissa managed to nudge him down a little, and he sat down on the plush mattress, pulling her down onto his knees.

"Elissa-are-you sure-we-can do-this?" Aiden said breathlessly between kisses.

Elissa broke away for a second and cupped her lover's face gently. "Are you off duty right now?"

Aiden nodded, staring up at his goddess.

"I'm already pregnant, there's not much that can happen that hasn't already," Elissa murmured, leaning down again. Aiden seemed to concede, as he threaded his fingers into her hair and pulled her down onto the center of the bed with him.

"I love you," mumbled Aiden as he managed to undo Elissa's updo.

"I love you too."

"This is amazing," Selene declared as she manged to transport a noodle from the bowl to between her chopsticks and then into her mouth. "What is this again?"

"Noodles with beef sauce," Kai said, laughing. "That's all there is to it."

"All there is?!" Selene protested. "On Luna, we don't even have beef!"

"Really? So you're all vegetarians?"

"No, we just don't slaughter cows much for food. We like their milk more." Selene leaned over and stole a noodle out of Kai's bowl. Swallowing it, she screwed her face up into a pained expression.

"Why-is-it-this-spicy!" Selene gasped out frantically. Kai exhaled, a burst of laughter expelling from his lungs. He pushed an iced bubble tea towards her. Selene accepted it gratefully, chewing on the pearls.

"Mmm..." She mumbled. "What is this again?"

Kai chuckled. "Bubble tea."

"This is amazing. I'm never leaving this place."

"Head Thaumaturge Elissa would decapitate me if I let you do that."

"Okay, maybe. But she'll want to stay once she tastes this-this-" Selene scrambled for words. "Food from the gods."

"Food from the gods? You're setting the bar really high for something most people in the Commonwealth can cook."

"Most people?!" Selene gaped. "This is the best thing I've ever had!"

"Seriously? You guys don't have spicy noodles or beef noodles on Luna?"

"Everything we have is dressed down to a muted flavor. I've never tasted something as vibrant as this."

"That's too bad. If you stay, I'd take you to eat this everyday." He paused. "You know, provided that the Head Thaumaturge doesn't behead me."

Selene laughed lightly and hooked her arm through Kai's offered arm. Together they walked down the central road, looking like any other young couple on the street.

From a table at the noodle shop, he set down his spoon and followed the prince and princess with his dark eyes. Reaching inside his side bag, he felt for his comm and pressed the button on the side without hesitation.

It was time for the next step.

A/N: I love bubble tea. Seriously. If you've never had it, you need to get it. (Or milk tea or milk tea with grass jelly if you don't like pearls.)


End file.
